The Genesis of a Generation
by Hikareh
Summary: What if Classic Sonic and Tails are stuck in the present after Sonic Generations? 50 Themes loosely connected around this question. I Brake For No One: Sonic sees something new in the snowfall.
1. Subdue Your Passion

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Subdue your passion or it will subdue you."

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><p><strong>032014 EDIT: **The quality of this story slowly gets better as it goes along, but the beginning is a little rough, as I had yet to gain my voice. Please give the prose a chance before you judge the first twenty chapters too harshly, and I hope you enjoy watching as I slowly become a better writer through this story. I will eventually do a sweep for typos, but the bad writing will remain as is. It is a reminder of how far I've come.

**11/2012 EDIT: **Rewrote this chapter so it matches the overall quality of the whole story. Hopefully it will meet my overly-high expectations in a few weeks when I check back.

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL NEW READERS:**_ It is ill advised to read this story out of order. Contrary to what you may believe (and what the summary leads you to assume), there _is_ an underlying plot to this. Jumping around will be hit and miss, but you will eventually run into a chapter that will leave you scratching your head, wondering what exactly you missed. Read in order – it'll make your life a lot easier.

**Original Notes:** This is a drabble collection based off the 50 Phrases Challenge (list courtesy of LeDiz – go read her collection, _Underground Game_. It's way better than this one's gonna be, trust me.). The drabbles will be loosely connected, but not in any sort of order or semblance of timeline. All you need to know is that this is based off a drabble I posted in my other collection (_Don't Take Wooden Nickels, number 8_), in which Classic Sonic and Tails – after traveling all the way to the present with Modern Sonic and Tails – get stuck in the present after the end of Sonic Generations and have no choice but to bunk and live with their future incarnations in the present/future.

Now, you should know that I refuse to call the different versions of Sonic and Tails "Classic" and "Modern" in the prose. Those two words don't fit the situation at all, so I will not be using them. That being said, I have tried very hard to differentiate between the two ages, but it still may be hard for readers not in my head to tell the difference. I beg of you to just hang in there with me until I can get the hang of things.

Oh, and a big thank you goes out to the oh mighty title master, Yami-sama42, without whom this story would not have a title.

**Disclaimer:** Sonic and Co. belong to SEGA and its affiliates. The plot and prose belongs to me.

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><p>Mystic cave Zone. Dark, dank, echo-y, barren. All sentient life was absent – evacuated to the stable surface world – save for four individuals, two blue, two gold, one an adult, one a teenager, one a child, and the last a toddler, and all four very recognizable.<p>

"You see anything?" Sonic the Hedgehog, hero of Mobius and eldest present, called, voice deep and powerful. He was looking up at the disappearing golden form of his best friend and sidekick, watching as the kit flew down the long corridor, dodging deftly around the hanging lichen and keeping a keen eye on the lookout for robots of any shape or form, badnik or Eggpawn.

"Not yet!" The reply echoed back, piercing in the small space.

"Go about two hundred more yards and then circle back!"

"Alright!" Slowly, the _thwaping_ of the kit's tails disappeared as he zoomed down the cave.

Sonic grinned, turning back to his other companions. "As soon as the coast is clear we can get outta this zone and go find Eggman." Only one half of those present actually heard him. A little hedgehog with the same exact shade fur as the other sent him an annoyed glance before sighing and looking down at the toddler resting on the ground – who just so happened to share the peculiar extra tail mutation with the canine who had just left. The kit was currently snoozing on the floor – with his head resting on the foot of the lighter blue hedgehog – while his pillow looked like he was trying very hard not to scream of frustration, face growing impossibly redder with every second that passed.

"Is this really necessary?" Sonic's younger self asked irritably, glaring down the cavern the fox had disappeared in. "We can take out anything in our path. Why send the kid into danger?"

The taller, incarnation of the hedgehog sighed, resisting the temptation to roll his eyes. "Tails is just looking for badniks and robots so we can have forewarning." Seeing the other about to dispute him again, he cut across. "And, he's not in any danger because he knows better than to engage an enemy without backup."

"It seems kind of pointless to sit around like this," the other argued back. "Why can't we leave the Tailses here and scout ahead ourselves?"

This time, the older Sonic gave into the temptation and his green eyes rolled up to the ceiling. "Eggman uses mainly land-based enemies, so Tails has the lowest possibility of being hit." The smaller opened his mouth to argue again, but the darker blue one cut him off once more. "And before you suggest that your Tails could fly you through, that totally defeats the purpose. We're still going to kick robot metal, but we're going to have a plan of attack."

The little blue one rolled his eyes at the condescending tone of his older self, scoffing low in his throat. "I never plan, and I'm still alive."

The flat look Sonic sent his younger persona was anything but pleasant, and would have had anyone else backing up in defeat, ready to listen to the hedgehog's advice. However, since Sonic was basically trying to stare down himself – albeit he be a younger self – the glare did nothing to move the other in a direction of surrendering, and he simply jeered back.

Changing tact, the older Sonic sighed before dropping down onto one knee and placing a hand on the other's shoulder, staring into the dark depths of his companion's eyes. He felt a thrum as he recognized himself in those windows; his soul reflected brightly through the black orbs. Inside those eyes, he saw the passion and determination to protect all of those he cared about and the burning hatred he still held back for Robotnik, the cabin fever he suffered from even to this day from simply standing still for more than five seconds at a time, the protective instincts he had for the small fox laying on his foot, twitching in his sleep, and, more importantly, the love he had for all of his friends. He was overwhelmed at the innocence he saw in those eyes, almost overflowing from the ten year old.

The younger hedgehog had no idea what it was like to almost die, what the Chaos Emeralds had planned for him, what would turn those eyes into hard chips of emerald instead of dark, endless wells of emotion. Instantly, he wished he could save himself, wished he wouldn't let his passion overcome his instincts to save himself and just back away from being the hero.

But then, he was struck by all of the good he had done, all of the people he had saved, all of the futures he had promised just by doing what he did best. It was overwhelming and it crashed into him like a swell. It only lasted for a few seconds, and he could only stare back at his younger self, admiring and admonishing him at the same time.

"Subdue your passion," he mumbled, looking away from his child-like persona, "or it will subdue you."

The small blue hedgehog made a confused sound, and the elder waved him off.

"Nothing, nothing." The reply was quick and precise, leaving no room for argument. Instead, Sonic went back to the issue at hand. "It's not about staying alive," he said in response to the juvenile hedgehog's previous declaration, "it's about being quick and exact, not allowing Eggman time to retaliate."

"This isn't exactly very 'quick'. We've been sitting here for way too long to be healthy."

"Says you."

"Actually, says you. We're the same person."

"Touché…"

They stood in silence after that, staring after their still adventuring fox friend, attempting to decide what to do next. Eventually, Little Sonic eased himself into a sitting position on the dusty ground, shifting Tails so he wouldn't step on one of his namesakes on accident. The movement did little to wake the four year old, and he simply curled himself back into a ball in Sonic's lap, still asleep. Older Sonic quickly followed the other's example, sitting close and reaching out and rubbing the small fox on the head.

"Enjoy this." He said simply, scratching the child behind the ear. "Soon enough he'll be too busy tinkering with planes to sleep in your lap."

"It's hard for me to imagine him being so smart… I mean, I know he's intelligent, but it never really struck me how much of a genius he is."

The emerald eyed hedgehog laughed quietly, staring down at the small face of his charge's past self. "I don't think it's hit _me_ yet. I don't think it'll ever completely set in, considering how dependent he is on us."

"I'm almost scared…" This was mumbled, without the intention of the older hedgehog hearing, but his keen ears picked it up just the same. "I mean, looking at you… me… _us_," he waved a hand towards the other hedgehog's general physique, "I know that we make it to adulthood without any major complications and that we raise Tails successfully, but still… I'm afraid that I'm gonna make a stupid mistake and screw him up."

"Oh, you're gonna screw up." Older Sonic said firmly. "But, he'll forgive you. He's a good kid, and we're lucky that we found him. I dunno if I would be alive today without him."

The other hedgehog stared down at the small head in his lap. "I can believe that." He said simply, rubbing his hand on the fox's head like his older self. "Sonic…" He addressed the older hedgehog with their shared name, catching the other's attention. "What exactly happened…?" He trailed off, licking his lips and searching for the words to continue. "I mean, with your eyes… They're green, and Tails'… _blue_… It's so strange."

Suddenly, the older's face shut down, his chin falling to his chest and casting strange shadows on his face. "It's complicated…"

The smaller of the two hedgehogs looked like he was about to try to press the answer out of his older persona, but the other speedster was saved from having to answer by the larger of the two foxes zooming back to them and landing before them with a bump. He was panting, like he had been in a hurry, and his left arm had a shallow gash in it that was bleeding steadily.

Sonic – the older – was on his feet in milliseconds, grabbing the arm and examining the wound. "What happened?" He demanded, voice unnaturally harsh and guttural.

"Buzz Bomber," the fox panted, yanking his arm back. "Don't worry about it. It's just a flesh wound. Not deep at all. There's a whole platoon of Bombers heading this way."

Little Sonic eased his respective Tails awake, pulling the fox to his feet as he himself stood. "What're we gonna do?"

The elder Sonic still looked upset over his little brother's injury, but he forced a smile onto his face. "What we do best! Smash some bots!"

The two Sonics shared a thumbs up, strategies already spinning through two equally quick brains. As if reading each other's minds, they nodded once before dashing off towards the oncoming threat.

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><p><em>Reviews are cherished<em>


	2. Step on It!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Step on it!"

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>I will not even begin to tell you how hard it was to avoid basing this one around cars. Considering how Sonic can basically run everywhere, it's pretty shocking how much he sits in a car, just sayin'.

Anyway, I kinda sorta cheated with this one (and it's only the second one…), in that I actually placed it _during_ Generations. I know, that's totally against the whole "what-if _after_ Sonic Generations" thing I have going on, but… Yeah.

So, this one takes place in the world of the Arabian Nights. Now, before all of you try to bite my head off, I'm assuming that Sonic Squared travel all the way through Sonic's past (Generations only showing certain moments) and that they do eventually end up in the book's world.

Besides, I'm sad to admit that I actually enjoy playing Sonic and the Secret Rings, wonky controls aside. But, I also enjoy some of the Night Stages in Unleashed, so maybe I'm just weird. (Plus, I've been reading _Burning Arrow, Wildfire Heart _by Taranea… for the third time, and now I'm on a Secret Rings binge… Don't judge me.)

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><p>"<em>AHHH<em>-!"

Sonic hit the sand with little grace, landing face first in the grainy substance. Luckily, he had the foresight to close his eyes and mouth, so he didn't suffer from getting the gritty material stuck in his throat or nasal cavity, though from the way the rather high pitched cry that accompanied him on his way down cut off, one of his companions wasn't so fortunate.

"Ugh," he groaned, shaking loose the sand lodged in his quills and rubbing his head. "I really need to stop landing on my head."

"You're telling me…" A different voice answered, tone and timbre hinting at a younger version of the person who had just spoken. The younger persona of Sonic lifted his face out of the sand as well, shaking his head to dislodge the small rock particles from his ears. Glancing around, he groaned. "Oh no!" He moaned, flopping back down onto the ground. "Not Sandopolis again!"

"Don't be so melodramatic," an older voice spoke above him, grabbing him by one of the quills on his back and yanking him to his feet. "This is Sand Oasis, not Sandopolis."

The younger hedgehog's face fell into a flat look. "That's really comforting. I'm totally gonna jump for joy now."

The other ignored his small self's surly attitude, leaning over to swipe granules of broken up stone off of his legs. "Where're Tails and Tails?" He asked once he was done, hooding his eyes against the harsh sun with his right hand and placing his left on his hip.

"We're here!" The older fox's voice called from behind the hedgehogs. He was making his way slowly across the sands, holding his younger incarnation in his arms. The small fox was relaxed against the golden shoulder of the blue eyed, taller kit, completely at ease, and the larger two-tail didn't seem to mind having to carry him. Little Sonic was quick to relieve the older vulpine of his burden however, taking the child into his own arms before placing him on the ground, determining that he could stand on his own. The younger fox let out a noise of annoyance but make a sound past that.

"Took a field trip, did you?" The older Sonic joked, rubbing his thirteen year old charge on the head.

"You could say that." Tails shrugged, reaching back to pick at one of his namesakes, brushing sand out of the fur. "We were dropped about a hundred yards north of here, so it wasn't so bad. Little me got tired about halfway though, so I had to carry him."

"You moved pretty quickly," the smaller hedgehog remarked, allowing the diminutive kitsune to lean against his side. "We'd only been standing here for thirty seconds before you showed up."

"We walked for about ten minutes," the juvenile canine cut in, hugging close to Sonic's leg.

"The time holes probably just freaked out when we got separated and spat us out a little earlier than you, that's all." The older fox added, attempting to assure his big brother that nothing was amiss. "No harm, no foul."

The taller hedgehog groaned. "Time travel is such a mess. Why do we bother with it?"

"Not like we got much of a choice." Tails answered, leaning down to extract his younger self from the leg of his favorite hedgehog. "Or did you forget how we got bodily dragged here against our will?" With a small smile, he reached around his smaller persona and showed him how to remove the sand from the thick fur. "You need to keep these clean," he mumbled in a low voice, running his fingers through the golden fur. "That way, Sonic won't find an excuse to make you take a bath." He winked as his younger identity giggled softly.

"You're incorrigible." Both Sonics said at the same time.

"I know." The teenager replied in a mischievous tone, moving to his younger guise's other tail. "But, what would you expect, being around you for most of my life?"

"You have too much tact," the bigger Sonic pointed out. "I didn't teach you that."

"No, but I had to adapt somehow." Deeming the yellow fur of this tail now completely sand free, the fox stood fully, looking toward his older brother. "What's the plan?"

Sonic took a deep breath, getting ready for to deliver a genius plan, pointing at the older version of the fox, "you and the li'l me head towards Dinosaur Jungle. Me and the li'l you'll try to find King Sharyar and see what chapter we're in and we'll meet up with you at the foundry."

"Wait, wait…" The smaller hedgehog held up his hands, pausing the conversation. "_Chapter_?"

"Yeah," Sonic replied, grabbing the hand of the smaller Tails. "We're in a book. It's better if you don't question it. I'll explain it all at the foundry."

"A _book_? You're kidding right? This is a joke. There's no way we can be in a _book_. Giant water gods, robots, and princesses I can accept… but a book…? Nah uh. I'm done with this." So saying, Little Sonic plopped down right into the sand without preamble, dragging the older Tails with him. "You can just go on and kill yourself in the desert. I know better than to overexert myself."

"Actually, you don't." The older Sonic replied, the cheeky smile on his face signaling that he had exhausted himself in desert-like climates many times. "Staying put will just kill you. Our metabolism eats through food too quickly; you'll be dead from starvation before dehydration even kicks in."

"And moving around will just kill me faster. Burning calories isn't the way to staying healthy when you don't have access to food."

"Yeah, but there's food in the Dinosaur Jungle. Fruit. Just take Tails and go."

The older fox rose to his feet, getting ready to follow his best friend's orders. "C'mon, big bro," he encouraged with a smile, reaching down to help the younger hedgehog to his feet. Aware of the fact that the elder vulpine was three years his senior, the little blue one accepted the hand without hesitation, happily realizing how much respect the fox held for him. "I'll race you."

"Hang on Tails," he ordered, glaring up at his older self. "What makes you think you can tell me what to do?" This was directed toward said taller hedgehog, and he paused, stopping his trek in the opposite direction. "If you can tell me what to do, then that means that you're just telling yourself to go to Dinosaur Jungle. Better listen, or else you'll die of starvation."

The other Sonic froze, his back going rigged. Slowly, he turned, mumbling under his breath about "impudent little blue hedgehogs that didn't know their place."

"You might want to slow down on the Sonic bashing, old man." The younger said cheekily, smiling hugely. "You're only insulting yourself."

The green eyed hedgehog took a deep breath. "Have I always been this difficult?" He directed this question towards the older Tails.

"Yes." The fox didn't hesitate to answer.

Another sigh. "Well, what would you suggest we do then?" The older hedgehog was speaking to the younger again.

"Since we can't sit here like I want, then I suppose we should _all_ go find this king of yours."

"Well then," the other replied, a smile overcoming his face. "Step on it! I'm already gone!" No truer words had been spoken, as all that was left of the hedgehog once he was done speaking was a streak of blue in the distance.

The younger's face broke out into a smile as well, and he easily curled into a spindash, shooting forward. He caught up with his older self in milliseconds, leaving the two foxes in the dust.

The Sonics ran side-by-side for a while, setting an even pace with neither trying to edge out in front of the other. After five minutes of steady running, the smaller hedgehog turned to his larger counterpart.

"So, you care to explain this _book_ world to me?" His words were snatched away by the wind almost as soon as he said them, but his running companion heard him nonetheless.

"It's a long story." The other began, glancing back to make sure the Tailses were following after them. Two small dots in the sky a few yards behind them confirmed the foxes' positions and he grunted to himself. "It all started when I was asleep in the Workshop. This genie girl came ou-"

"Wait, wait. _Genie_?"

"Yeah, like magic and lamps and wispy smoky stuff." Seeing the blank look on the other's face, he sighed for what felt like the twelfth time that day. "You know what I'm talking about. Anyway, she came out and pulled me into the book, saying that I was the _Legendary Hedgehog_ or whatever and that I had to save the day. Turns out, this guy called the Erazor Djinn was trying to erase the stories or something and come into the real world, so I had to stop him. When we first met up, he shot this fire arrow thing at Shahra – that's the genie – and I jumped in the way. Then I had a flame coming out of my chest for the rest of the time I was here. Talk about heart burn." He paused, as if waiting for his younger self to laugh. Instead, he was just received the same blank stare. "And _then_ the Erazor guy told me that I had to collect the Seven World Rings – almost exactly the same as the Chaos Emeralds, accept negative and possibly evil. I was like 'no way dude' and he was like 'you'll die if you don-!"

"You do know that you're on fire right?" The smaller hedgehog's words sent Sonic's story, and his body, careening to a halt – his past self struggling to stop just as quickly. He gasped, jerking his head down to stare down at his chest. A small orange flame winked merrily up at him.

"_Not again_!_"_ He wailed to the heavens, finally noticing the heat radiating from his upper body. "How long have I been like this? !" He demanded of his younger identity.

"Uh, since you answered my '_Genie_?' comment." The other answered, staring down at his hand. "This weird ring showed up on my finger at the same time."

"Wait, _ring_? Let me see that." Roughly, he grabbed the hand of his younger self, yanking it up to his green eyes. "Oh no…"

"_Master_?" In a puff of smoke, a human-looking female with pink hair appeared in front of the two hedgehogs, floating in mid-air. "How did we get back into Sand Oasis? We were just on the pirate ships in the ocean…"

A small thump announced the younger Sonic's departure from the land of consciousness. The taller of the two hedgehogs smiled uneasily up at the girl as she bobbed up and down in the air.

"Heya Shahra," he mumbled, prodding his small self with his toe, "long time no see."

_End Chapter 2_

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><p><em>The land of time holes just leads to plot holes. (Does the actual Sonic running around in Pirate Storm still have Sharha's ring, or has he been left high and dry – or low and wet considering where he is – until Classic and Modern Sonic leave the past? The world may never know.)<em>

_Li'l Sonic's Sandopolis comment is going to annoy me. _

_Why?_

_Because it doesn't make sense in the continuity in my head, that's why. _

_You see, from what I have observed, Sonic 1 through 4 take place while Sonic is between the ages 10 to 14, Adventure through Colors take place while he is 15, and Generations while he is 20 (the plot for Generations says that years pass between Colors and Generations, so one can only assume that it's five years). This makes no sense to me. That's too much stuff to happen in a year's time – Adventure to Colors (not to mention Shadow's mind should be non-existent with all of the wiping it received in such a short amount of time). _

_Anyway, in the canon for this story, I have decided that Classic Sonic was pulled from the past between the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic 4/Sonic CD. This is not what will happen in Generations, I'm sure, because he was in Green Hill Zone, but there's no way he knows Classic Tails unless he is pulled from after Sonic 2. Make sense? _

_But, since he steadily ages between Sonic 1 and Sonic 4, then that means he has to be at least 12-13 years old after the events of S3&K. _

_And I made him ten. _

_Stupid me. _

_(Yes, I really did spend time thinking about this.)_

_So, ignore that mess up. He's still ten, but we're gonna ignore the ages that Sega gives us, because they make no sense anyway, okay?_

_(P.S. I have no idea why Little Sonic is such a downer in these… I swear, I didn't mean to make him that way. I guess because his older self is so laid back, my mind felt the need to create an opposite personality for him to play off of. He reminds me of Knuckles…) _

_Review please?_

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	3. You are insane

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"You are insane."

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>: You remember the note I had at the bottom of the last chapter? The one about how I screwed up the ages and stuff? Well, just ignore it.

SEGA has decided that Sonic CD happens between Sonic 4 ep. 1 and Sonic 4 ep. 2. However, I had already started this drabble before I found out about that, and had decided that Classic Sonic is yanked to the future after the events of Sonic CD but before Sonic 4. I changed it on the last drabble I posted, because I figured I could go with SEGA's official timeline, but it's not working out for me, so I have to go back to the one I was working with before, because I need Classic Sonic to know who Amy is. Make sense?

So, the timeline (FOR THIS STORY ONLY) is Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic CD, Sonic 4. Then Adventure and so on. Sonic is still ten, Tails is still four, and Knuckles is still a gullible idiot.

I'm running on the assumption that Classic Sonic hasn't really gotten a good look at Modern Amy. There's no way to know for sure, _Generations_ not even out yet, so just roll with it.

This story now has an **update schedule**. Wednesdays and Saturdays. The full schedule is on my deviantART along with an FAQ (links on my profile). Also, I have been informed **via PM** (the ideal way to contact me) that a **drabble** is a short work of fiction usually under 100 words and that the word **"ficlet"**would be more accurate to describe what I am doing here. So, from now on, these are ficlets, not drabbles.

This one was written while I was listening to Sonic Underground music… I blame only myself.

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><p>Sonic was making chili dogs.<p>

Both incarnations of him.

As one, together the ten and twenty year old embodiments of the hedgehog were zipping around the small kitchen in Tails' Workshop, mixing things, grating cheese, garnishing relish just right, and plating to perfection. They twirled around each other as if in a dance, filling the room with the smells of pure euphoria and sounds of clinking plates and silverware. They worked together well, seeming to be able to read each other's minds and anticipate what the other was going to do next. If the older Sonic scooped chili onto a hotdog, the small version of him was milliseconds behind, ready to sprinkle the ideal amount of cheese on top; if the black eyed hedgehog used a pair of tongs to grab a hotdog out of the boiling water, his green eyed companion was ready with a plate and a bun.

Already, they had enough food to feed two armies and they didn't look ready to stop any time soon. The feast could have sustained the population of Green Hill Zone for a whole month, but would no doubt be consumed by the four individuals living the workshop in a matter of minutes. Both Sonic and Tails – no matter what age – adored the chili covered dogs and would literally eat themselves sick if it meant one more taste of the delectable morsels. They were the one weakness of Sonic the Hedgehog, and he didn't hide his adoration no matter who was around.

"_Follow me!_" A low pitched voice suddenly sang out as its owner checked to make sure a pot of hotdogs wasn't boiling over.

"_Set me free!_" A matching higher voice answered, the person it belonged to spinning around on his toe happily.

"_Trust me and we will escape from the city!_" Both sang together, harmonizing and zooming past each other in their quick moving dance of cooking. "_I'll make it through; prove it to you!"_

"_Danger is lurking around every turn."_ The younger persona of the hedgehog stabbed a fork into a dog, flipping the utensil over his head and flinging the meat rod into the air.

"_Trust your feelings; got to live and learn." _The taller hedgehog was quick to grab a bun and a plate, sliding underneath the hotdog and catching it easily inside the bread.

"_I know with some luck that I'll make it through." _Jumping over his smaller self, the elder Sonic scooped a huge glob of chili out of the pot it was simmering in and slathered it all over the plate in one smooth move.

"_Got no other options – only one thing to do!" _Throwing cheese into the air like it was confetti, the adolescent hedgehog sprinkled the dairy product on the meat frank next, nodding to his older self before taking the platter and rushing it to the table to sit with its brethren. "_I don't care what lies ahea-!"_

Suddenly, an orange blob whooshed its way into the room, cutting off the song, and zooming right over the heads of the two hedgehogs – revealing the image of a thirteen year old fox with two tails. He dropped a bag onto the counter beside the stove, landed primly on his feet a few seconds later, and reached into the sack, grabbing out what looked like a grocery store's worth of pre-packaged hotdogs.

"I bought the Station Square Ultra-Mart completely out of these things." The blue eyed vulpine told the hedgehogs as they continued to cook their favorite food. "Don Fachio's not gonna be very happy with us."

"He'll deal." The voice of the older Sonic whirled its way out of the tornado of blue rotating around the room. "He can get his dogs from Empire City, if he's that desperate."

"I even found Wentos on my way out of the city and bought some pre-made chilis." Tails continued, pulling packet after packet out of the plastic bag. "The little me already put them on the table."

"Awesome!" Double hedgehog voices yelled out happily.

When Tails was done pulling all twenty seven packages of hotdogs out of the bag, he easily grabbed one in each hand and held them out. Suddenly, a blue blur flashed its way past, grabbed the franks and ripped them open smoothly before tossing their contents into a giant stock pot of boiling water. The hedgehog then circled back around the kitchen, snatching another two bundles of dogs and repeating the process. This was done multiple more times before all of the wieners were in the water, cooking to the ideal temperature.

"We got enough chili?" The eldest Sonic asked, finally coming to a stop right beside the fox.

In answer to his question, his small incarnation came stumbling out of the pantry loaded down with cans and cans of the meat sauce. He struggled toward the middle of the room before dropping at least two dozen cans onto the ground. "Yes."

"Way past cool." Smoothly, he stooped down and grabbed one of the cans, weighing it in its hand. "Okay, me and Little Blue will finish the food. Tails, you and T2 get drinks ready."

"Copy that." So saying, the taller fox shared a look with his newly arrived younger self before the two of them took to the air to avoid the oncoming rushings-about of the two hedgehogs.

One blink, and the room was filled with the blue after images of the two quilled mammals once again.

o0o

Eight and a half minutes later, the entire household of Tails' Workshop was sitting down at the kitchen table, a mountain of chili dogs slathered with chili, cheese, and relish perched precariously on the small table-top. Each one looked starved, and the two hedgehogs were barely managing to keep themselves from attacking the food resting in front of them.

Then, as if by some hidden signal, all four pounced on the pile of hotdogs, practically inhaling half of them in fifteen seconds. The four Mobians kept pace with each other – even the small Tails – and they all managed to down over a dozen of the chili dogs before they started losing steam and slowing down. However, they chugged right along, devouring the dogs at a steady, if slower, velocity.

Eventually, both of the foxes dropped out of the gorging, allowing their friends to finish off the multitude of chili dogs left. The hedgehogs did so with vigor, shoving hotdog after hotdog down their throats and vacuuming up five each in thirty seconds.

However, after that, the older Sonic started to get green in the face, almost like his stomach was revolting against the large amount of food that had been shoveled into it in too little a time period. He paused, shoving away from the table.

"Okay," he mumbled, groaning and clutching his stomach. "You win, lil' me. I shouldn't have been sneaking tastes from the chili as I was making it earlier."

"_Sweet_!" The other yelled, shoving one more chili dog into his face for good measure. Once he was done chewing, he spoke again. "That means that you get to clean up the kitchen!" He swept his hand toward the room, indicating the multitude of plastic hotdog wrappers littering the floor, the chili caked stove, and cheese thrown everywhere.

The elder hedgehog groaned again, but for a completely different reason. "Next time, we bet with money…"

"I'll help you, Sonic," the older persona of Tails offered, standing and stretching.

With another grumble, the darker blue one stood and bent over to crack his back before sighing and moving sluggishly toward the messy kitchen, Tails rushing to catch up.

The younger Sonic beamed slightly, happy with his victory and enjoying the full feeling his belly was experiencing. With a content smile, he stood, cracked his back like his older counterpart without realizing, and moseyed his way toward the living room, his small fox friend following him. Lethargically, he threw himself over the couch, landing on his stomach so he didn't dig his quills into the soft fabric. His fox-shaped shadow copied his movement but with the floor instead of the couch, snuggling into the soft carpet.

"I think we deserve a good nap, don't you?" Sonic asked his friend, relaxing his back bone. "All that eating wore me out."

A small yawn was his only answer as the kit turned onto his side and curled his tails around his body in his default sleeping position. He was snoozing in seconds.

Sonic attempted to copy his little brother, except in a ball and without ruining the couch with his quills, a feat that was easier said than done. He did manage to get into a comfortable position eventually and was just about to close his eyes when the doorbell rang.

"Would you get that? !" His older self called, a loud crash following the yell. "Jeeze, Tails, watch what you're doing!"

"Take your own advice, Sonic! It's your fault that it fell!"

With a sigh, little Sonic rolled his way off the couch, attempting to block out the argument coming from the kitchen. Slowly, he ambled his way toward the door, yanking the piece of wood away from its frame once he was close enough.

"Welcome to the Prower-Hedgehog household, how may I help you before I eject you from the property?"

"_Sonic_!" Suddenly, the small hedgehog found himself engulfed in a hug from a sweet smelling female. He choked, immediately trying to squirm his way out of the other's grip. "What are you doing here? ! I thought you were out running around!"

"What would make you think _that_? !" He demanded, still trying to be free of this crazy woman's arms. "And _who_ are you? !"

The girl pushed him away from her person like she had been burned. "What do you mean, _who am I_? I'm your girlfriend, Amy Rose!"

"I don't have a girlfriend." Sonic argued back, finally getting a good look at the female in front of him. She was pink with green eyes and a red dress. Suddenly, his mind clicked and he couldn't help but blurt out, "_Rosy?_ Rosy the Rascal? !"

"Ugh, Sonic," she scoffed, closing the door and making her way around him so she could walk into the living room, "I told you not to call me that."

"Would you rather I called you '_Princess Sally'_?" He replied back a touch too harshly, but he just wrote it off as drowsiness. "You know, you never gave me your real name."

The girl finally seemed to look at him, _really _look at him. "Wait, you're not Sonic." She paused. "Well, I mean, you're _Sonic_, but not _my _Sonic. Um, I mean, you're my Sonic, but not the right age…" She huffed, crossing her arms. "Where's the other Sonic?"

"Hold on, let me summon him." The little Sonic replied back too quickly, crossing his arms and taking a deep breath. "_SONIC!_" He yelled at the top of his lungs, jolting the small fox sleeping on the floor into wakefulness and causing his older self to come zooming into the room.

"What? ! Where's the fire? !"

"Your girlfriend beckons."

"My wha-? AMY!" Catching sight of the girl, the older Sonic yelled her name a little too loudly in surprise. "Amy, uh, what're you doing here?"

"Oh, I was in the neighborhood; decided I'd drop in." Her voice was nonchalant, and she waved her hand to help exaggerate the flippant nature of her response.

Sonic opened his mouth to remind her that the Workshop was in the middle of Mystic Ruins, and therefore in the middle of nowhere, and there was no '_dropping in' _in the middle of nowhere,but she cut him off.

"Why haven't you told about your younger self about the nature of our relationship?" She demanded, sidling up to the older hedgehog's side and running her gloved hand down his arm.

"Arrugh," he shivered in response, wiggling away from her. "Don't do that! It mundo freaks me out."

"Answer the question, Sonic." Her tone was no-nonsense.

"How can I tell him about a relationship that doesn't exist?"

The girl's face turned a peculiar shade of red at that, but she managed to get herself back under control seconds later. "If you won't, then I will!" She declared.

"Wait, Amy, _no_!"

"Shh, Sonic," she hushed. "I know how difficult it is for males to get in touch with their feelings, so just let me do the talking."

He looked like he _really _wanted to argue, but she hurled him a look that would have sent braver men running for cover; however, he still stood up against her stare, glaring right back.

While Amy and Sonic had their staring contest, the older Tails quietly made his way into the room and his younger counterpart got off the floor to stand beside his older brother. The three of them watched, with a sinking feeling of dread, as Sonic finally broke the gaze, mumbling under his breath.

Happily, Amy clapped her hands and spun toward the younger version of Sonic. "You see, Little Sonic, me and you have been dating for about six years."

Sonic interrupted her with a coughing fit that suspiciously sounded like it had the word "_not_" thrown in between spasms.

"And we're getting pretty serious, if I do say so myself. Of course, you've never really been a romantic, so I won't be surprised when your proposal is a small affair."

"Uh huh…" The smaller hedgehog had to speak up to be heard over the choking sound his future persona was making. "And how old are you, Amy?"

"Seventeen, why?"

"That's a little young to be getting married, isn't it?"

"Love knows no age, Little Sonic. You'll see."

"Actually, I don't want to se-"

"And you know what happens after we get married? !" Amy cut in, her face and voice hinting to the fact that she had just had an epiphany.

"_Woah_, Amy," the larger Sonic cut in, his voice forceful. "I draw the line right there. There's a four year old in this room!"

"Oh, I wasn't talking about _that!_" Her voice took on an offended tone. "After we get married we have twins!" Amy's eyes had tangible sparkles in them. "A boy and a girl, named Chaos and Emerald!"

Silence followed this declaration, and all four of the males took a step back, away from the girl.

"You are insane." Little Sonic was the first to speak, attempting to inch behind the taller version of Tails. "Absolutely crazy."

"The girl will look just like me, except she'll have your eyes!" She continued, unhearing. "And the boy will look like you but he'll have my tail! They'll both be able to run super quick like you and wield a hammer like me!"

"Are you sure they're gonna be named Chaos and Emerald? I would've called them Mary-Sue and Gary-Stu." The older Sonic laughed.

The next thing any of them knew, Sonic was flying into the adjacent wall.

"Please don't break my house." The elder fox whimpered as the female hedgehog stalked after the now retreating twenty-year-old.

* * *

><p><em>Aaaaaand, there goes the fourth wall. <em>

_Amy needs to work on her observational skills. _

_I wish I could draw… If I could, I would totally sketch Sonic, Sonic, Tails, and Tails' reaction to Amy's declaration about hers and Sonic's twins. The faces in my head are hilarious. _

_Wentos is a traveling salesman with a Chao Puppet in Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360). He has a special place in my heart. I love that kid. Every time _Yami-sama42_ and I saw him when we were doing a play through of Unleashed, we would yell "Wentooooooos!" He's cute. Don Fachio is also from Unleashed. He's the hot dog vendor. _

_In the original American manual for Sonic CD, Amy was called "Princess Sally" in an attempt to tie into the cartoon that came out at the same time. The Japanese manual for the same game called her "Rosy the Rascal". Archie's Anti-Mobius or whatever isn't the first to use the name. Not very original are they? (Yeah, I really don't like Archie.)_

_Amy's names for her children are a parody on the many lavender colored offspring that Sonic and her manage to have in fanfiction. (pink hedgehog plus blue hedgehog equals purple hedgehog? Genetics doesn't work like that, kiddos.) These super-sonic hedgies usually have names like 'Jewel', 'Swift', 'Manik/Manic' or the ever popular 'Miles'_ (_do you really think that if Tails hates his name that much, that Sonic would curse his own children to be called that?) Here's to you, FC makers, you and your faker rainbow children. (Please don't take offense if you have ever made a faker rainbow child.)_

_Yeah, I managed to pack a bunch'a obscure Sonic facts into this one. Go me!_

**Reply to DanceDream**: (Though, everyone should read this) My aging of Classic Sonic and Tails has something to do with _when_ they were dragged into the future. Their ages are based on my sister's and my own (we're seven years apart; when I was fifteen, she was eight.), and the confusion you're experiencing is understandable because I just _assumed_ that everyone would pick up on what I was getting at. Sonic's birthday is in June, Tails in November, so that means that between the months of June and November, Tails' and Sonic's ages are seven years apart. (Let's say that Tails is 8 and Sonic is 15.) However, once we hit November again, Tails gets older, making their ages six years apart. (Sonic 15 and Tails 9.) Because Generations happens on Modern Sonic's birthday, then that means that he and Tails are now seven years apart again. However, because of the timeline I have worked out, Classic Sonic and Tails are pulled from the past after the month of November, making Tails four and Sonic still ten. (Times holes allow me to play around with the monthly placement a bit.) Does that make sense? (I agree with you about three year olds being cuter than four year olds, but this is the way it worked out.)

_**IMPORTANT**__: Please only leave reviews about the __**prose**__ of the fanfiction. If you feel the need to address any of my notes (like the one over names above this) please PM me, or email me, or comment on my deviantART profile. Do __**NOT**__ review this story with only comments pertaining to the notes. That seriously makes my blood boil, and I will not hesitate to report/remove your review. You have been warned. _

_And on that negative note… Review please?  
><em>


	4. Where Was Life When it Had Meaning?

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Where was life when it had a meaning?"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> A wildMoody McEmofaker has appeared! Unleash the fangirl mob!

* * *

><p>Westopolis was peaceful. There wasn't a cloud in the sky or the honk of a car horn, and a sweet silence reigned over the whole city, only penetrated by the occasional flutter of wind through the grass and leaves. Softly, a chirp – a baby flicky – called for its mother, the sweet gust of spring carrying its tweet far. The calm rested on everything, relaxing everyone and everything it touched.<p>

That is, until Sonic and Tails started shouting at each other.

"Don't get started with me, propeller butt!" A deep voice yelled, shattering the calm like a baseball through a window. "You know better!"

"Oh, you're one to talk, Mister Hypocrite!" A younger voice hollered back, twice as loud. "You do it all the time!"

"Yeah, but there's a difference between me and you, kid! I'm in charge!"

"Ha! You admit it! You _are_ a hypocrite!"

They had been going at it for at least fifteen minutes now, most of the argument in hushed tones, but recently the quiet quarrel had turned into a verbal spar. They were nose-to-nose, literally, standing on the edge of what had been dubbed _'Shadow's Ultimate Hill_' by the locals, said hedgehog resting against the only tree on the hill, his red eyes closed and his ears at half-mast, like he was asleep. However, one look at his stiff backbone, and one could tell that he was struggling not to Chaos Blast the two fighting Mobians into next Tuesday.

"I don't understand the inhabitants of this planet, Maria," he mumbled through the side of his mouth, his voice somehow annoyed and reverent at the same time. "They clash and squabble like children and yet still crave the company of each other. This seems counterproductive."

"Only the best of friends can fight like that." A small voice answered his statement, and he sensed another presence sit itself beside him. Slowly, he cranked open one eye, glaring straight through his newly arrived, unwanted companion.

The owner of the voice was a small hedgehog that looked almost identical to the one yelling himself hoarse a few feet away, except that he was shorter and rounder, with less sophisticated shoes than the other.

He simply grunted toward the ten year old, noncommittal to continuing a conversation that the other hedgehog hadn't been invited too.

"When you argue with your best friend, nothing is off limits, because they know somewhere, in the back of their head, that you don't really mean what you're saying." The smaller version of Sonic continued as the words Sonic and Tails were throwing at each other filtered through Shadow's ears.

"That television wouldn't have worked unless I had modified it, you cheapskate!"

"Oh, get stuffed, pixel brain. You're full of it. I could'a fixed that piece of junk if I had stared at it a bit longer."

"You were only staring at it because you couldn't figure out why the screen was dark. TV's turn off, idiot."

"Seems to me that they won't be best friends for much longer." Shadow snickered as a particularly nasty word came out of the thirteen year old kit's mouth, and a scandalized silence following for about fifteen seconds. The screaming started up again eventually, this time from a red faced hedgehog and no longer about the state of the television.

"Oh, they just need to blow off some steam." The little Sonic amended for his future self, keeping a watchful eye on his own foxy charge. The small four year old was currently on the opposite side of the hill from the fighting pair, digging around in the delicate wires and machinery of the _Tornado_, happily blocking out any sounds of loud arguments filled with curse words. "They've both been cooped up in the house for about a week."

"That sounds like a personal problem." Shadow answered with a sneer, lacing his hands behind his head. "Was it really necessary for the four of you to fly all the way out here for them to have this argument?"

"Originally, we'd been planning on seeing the city," the little hedgehog replied, "but then the older me caught sight of you sitting here, _'brooding_' he called it. Decided that we should keep you some company instead of wasting our time mixing with the humans." He paused, and suddenly, the air seemed to get thicker around the blue one with his next words. "Who were you talking to?"

The dark hedgehog stiffened, his fur standing on end of its own accord and a startled gasp ejecting itself from his chest. Quickly, his optional responses ran through his head, and he groaned inwardly. He was talking to an incarnation of Sonic – no matter how young – and he knew that there was no way an evasive answer like "That isn't your concern" would appease him. So, with a heavy sigh, he mumbled, "The tree," under his breath.

"Come again?" the other asked, face forced into an obviously stoic expression. "I, uh…" He paused, licking his lips. "I could'a sworn that I heard the name, um, _Maria_, earlier when you were mumbling. I don't mean to pry but, I was wonder-"

"Maria is the name of the tree." Shadow spoke without thinking, and he instantly regretted it. Seeing the twitching right eyebrow of the mini-Sonic – a sure sign that he was close to laughter – the ultimate lifeform quickly corrected, "talking to plants has been proven to help them grow. I was only assisting the tree in its development."

"By giving it a _name_? !" The tone was straight, but Shadow could sense the undertone of humor underneath. "Look Shadow, I don't know you that well. Hell, this is the first time I've had a civil conversation with you, but even I know better than to believe that you were talking to a _tree_."

"I do not joke, hedgehog," was the only answer received, and the smile slowly slipped off Sonic's face.

"Shadow," he sighed, and the addressed tensed once again, "I get the feeling that Maria was someone close to you and-" He was cut off once again.

"You can't tell me what to do, you big _faker_!" Tails' voice screamed, interrupting the small Sonic's statement.

There was a long pause.

"Oh, that's _it_! You are _grounded_, little man!" Sonic roared back at his little brother, voice ringing through the silence.

"_What_? !"

"We do _not_ use that word!"

"You use it all the time!"

"That is beside the point!"

"No, that's the _whole_ point!"

"Talk back one more time and you'll never see the light of day again!"

"Hm," the small Sonic hummed. "They're winding down. Won't be long until it's all over."

Despite himself, Shadow felt his eyebrows rise. "How do you know?"

The black-eyed hedgehog sent him an obvious look. "_Hello_, that's _me_ and _Tails_ fighting. I've been in plenty of those arguments, and usually a grounding is one step away from the end."

"How many of these fights have you been in?"

"Oh, I can count the number of times I've fought with Tails on one hand, but they usually aren't this explosive. It's kinda entertaining."

"Maria and I never fought like this…" Shadow had every intention of thinking that statement, but it somehow managed to come out of his mouth without his permission. He cringed.

"Well, unless trees have developed the ability to speak since I last checked, I would think not."

Quite unexpectantly, Shadow felt himself drawn to this young Sonic. He was approachable and open, unlike his older counterpart who gave off the air of being amicable, but in reality was more focused on giving you a speech about one of his many values or making a joke at your expense. Of course, the elder hedgehog did have his moments of clarity when he realized that he needed to be a supporter and not a jokester, but those instants were few and far between. This Sonic, however, seemed not have developed the defense mechanism of cracking jokes and making speeches, and therefore seemed more genuine. It almost made him smile.

"Maria's not the name of the tree."

"You don't say! Well then, what should I call it? Bethany?" Shadow gritted his teeth, reminding himself that no matter how different this small one seemed, he was still _Sonic_ on the inside, lame jokes included.

"Maria was my best friend," he continued, brushing off the awful attempt at humor.

"Oh," the other answered shortly, at a loss for words. It struck him that this was probably a huge emission for the darker hedgehog, talking about someone who was close to him. "What happened to her?"

"She died over fifty years ago."

"I-I'm sorry." Sonic truly was. He didn't know Shadow, or his background with Maria, and it was almost refreshing for the red-eyed mammal to see a reaction unsoiled by his past actions.

"She was sick," he said, refusing to talk about the true nature of her death. "Yet, she was so full of life, it seemed like a paradox to me. When I asked her why she acted the way she did, and why she was always so happy, she would always quote something at me." He paused, searching his memory. "'Where was life when it had meaning?' She'd always asked herself, and had always made a point to try something new. It was her favorite quote, and it became her mantra and philosophy. I'm still trying to figure out what she meant by it."

"Hm." The other said thoughtfully, looking up towards Shadow. "Maria seems like she was a smart girl, Shadow."

"She was, Sonic, she really was."

"Woah," a deep voice intruded into their conversation and both jumped, having lost touch with the outside world. "Shadow just called you… _me_ by my first name without a curse word or negative tone attached. I'm impressed, little me."

The smaller Sonic rolled his eyes before standing and looking up at his older self. "You two done arguing yet?" He asked, indicating the thirteen year old fox now making his way toward the bi-plane his younger self had managed to almost completely disassemble.

"Oh, we weren't arguing." Macro-Sonic replied, rubbing Mini-Sonic on the head. The smaller one scowled. "That was just a loud conversation."

"A loud conversation with negative words and expressions mixed in."

"Mere technicalities." Large Sonic then turned to Shadow. "I take it you enjoyed your time with lil'me. Why can't we get along like that now?"

A fist to the face was his only answer. The punch sent the lanky hedgehog sprawling onto his back, and he sputtered, stunned but unhurt. "What the _hell_?"

"I can't get along with you now because you have obviously aged in reverse. Grow up some and think like you did when you were ten, and then we'll talk." And, with that, Shadow reached behind his back, pulled out a Chaos Emerald, nodded to the smaller blue hedgehog, and disappeared in a flash of light.

A hush fell over the clearing after that but was punctuated seconds later by a twenty year old voice.

"Jerk."

* * *

><p><em>It's super effective!<em>

_NO. STOP. NONE OF THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE TAKEN AS SONADOW. EVER. EW. _

_In case any of you are curious, Sonic, Sonic, Tails, and Tails had leftover chili dogs after the events of the last drabble. However, every single one of them were eaten by the time the day was over.  
><em>

_A chirp is what a baby Flicky is called in the 1984 SEGA arcade game 'Flicky'. (Obscure fact is obscure.)_

_Pixel brain is something that Sonic calls Tails in the Fleetway Sonic Comic. It's not a nice nickname; rather offensive, because that version of Tails isn't very smart._

_The reasoning behind Sonic Squared and the geniuses staying at the Workshop is simple: there's now two of each of them, and that would not be easily explained away to the public without a visual aide and a basketball. They have neither. _

_Shadow amuses and annoys me at the same time, yet I can write him fairly well. _

_Review please? _


	5. My Outrage Will be the Death of Me

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"My outrage will be the death of me."

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>What's this? _Action?_ Not _talking_? BLASPHEMY!

* * *

><p>Sonic really hated water.<p>

Whether it was sitting in a pond or falling from the sky, he despised it. He detested how it would worm its way under his fur, trailing down his arms, legs, belly, and back, and he was unable to wipe it away. He loathed the way it coated everything after it stormed, making the grass slippery and the blacktop slick. His shoes were unable to grab traction on the glossy surface it created and he was sent slipping and sliding with little to no control over where he was headed. His greatest fear wasn't just drowning, it was having to fight Eggman in rainy weather and being unable to control where he went or how he attacked, making him useless.

But, he wasn't biased against just liquid water. He knew that no matter what form it was in, all water was two molecules of hydrogen and one of oxygen, whether it be liquid, solid, or gas.

And, right now, solid water was the one that held the top spot of the hatred list. He was currently slipping and sliding his way through the ice floes Holoska, chasing after one of Dr. Eggman's many flying bases. A cheery, upbeat melody was coming from the speakers placed on the exterior of the extraneous boosters propelling the base through the sky, and Sonic vowed to himself that those would be the first things to be spindash'd once he made his way onto the hull, as he was destined to eventually.

Homing attacking three perfectly placed Spinners, Sonic easily bounced across what would have been a deadly drop into hypothermic water had the robots not been there – the hedgehog made a mental note to write the doc a thank you note for the badniks and mechs that made his job easier – before landing with sneakered feet perfectly stable on the ground.

Until he attempted to move forward again and his feet slipped out from under him, his shoes struggling to gain toehold on the ice. He landed face first in the frost, his teeth snapping closed in a well-trained reaction to keep from biting off his tongue. His hands were spread-eagle around him, useless as they scrambled around on the ice, trying force him upward seconds later. His ingrained instinct told him not to stay down for long, no matter how much his jaw hurt, because, despite how slow they moved, the Eggpawns could move across the ice more fluidly than he could.

"_Oh ho! Sonic!"_ The hedgehog's overweight adversary called from the same speakers as the music, giddiness coloring the tone. "_Is the terrain getting to be too much? Can't run on a little frozen water? ! I perish to see how yo-!" _

Sonic tuned out the rest of the doctor's rant, instead finally managing to flip onto his back and sink his quills into the ice, allowing his legs to kick into the air and his feet to slam back down into the hard surface. The resulting force from those diamond hard leg muscles working against the thickly packed molecules of the solid beneath him pulled his quills from the unyielding hold of the ice and catapulted him forward. He fell into a roll to get his momentum under control before getting back to his feet seconds later, this time stepping with his feet at more of an angle so he would have less of a chance of falling again.

Gritting his teeth, Sonic eased around a corner, placing his gloved hand onto the sheer ice wall at his left side to help him around. However, his drift was cut short as he crossed paths with a dash panel, shooting forward straight into a group of Egg Fighters. With a grunt, he bent his legs and jumped, slamming into the first one he came across and incapacitating it with a well placed foot to the head. Kicking his other leg out, he reached the apex of his jump and air boosted forward, totally ignoring the four remaining robots with barely a glance back.

"_-have no hope of stopping me! My plan is almost complete! Soon, all of Holoska's glaciers will be nothing but slush, and then the whole planet will be flooded! What will you do then, you aquaphobic fool? You won't be able to stop me! Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho!"_ Tuning in at just the right moment, Sonic's brain ticked as he comprehended the doctor's words. Mumbling to himself, he rushed through a group of rings before boosting forward, steadily getting closer and closer to Robotnik's metal base.

Crashing through a few more Egg Fighters, Sonic couldn't help but grin as their bodies landed behind him with a loud bang and a nice mini-explosion, lighting up the dark scenery around him. Speeding through another dash panel, he caught sight of a well-placed spring and catapulted himself onto it, bouncing into the air and boosting forward again onto an upper platform.

The landscape in front of him was nothing but formidable, but he just shrugged to himself and dashed up and around a loop of ice, not dwelling on the way his feet almost slipped out from under him again. Struggling to turn sharply, he shoved his hand down onto the ground to aide him as he drifted around yet another corner, cringing slightly as he went further up the slippery wall than he had intended.

Next, he came upon two more Egg Fighters, this time both equipped with shields. Rebounding easily off of said shields got him more air than he intended and he was surprised to find himself catapulted forward by a Rainbow Ring, flying over the obstacles in front of him. With a laugh, he curled inward, spinning and extending his flight time. Landing still in a ball, he rolled past a few robots before coming back to his feet and launching himself off a catapult panel, soaring straight back into the air.

He rose so far into the sky that he lost sight of the ground for a second, and simply air boosted forward to avoid any unseen enemies below him. Unfortunately, this sent him further than anticipated and he suddenly found himself plummeting not toward ice, but toward water.

Freezing, liquid water.

"No! Nononononono! Not again! _Noooooooooooo_!" He wailed, flailing his arms and legs as if they would slow his descent. His heart was in his stomach, his lungs in his shoes, and his brain slowly freezing up as the dark, half frozen sea got closer and closer every second. "Oh, Chaos, no! Tails! Tails, if you can hear me, _help_!"

Suddenly, a red bi-plane materialized out of nowhere, looping over, around, and under the hedgehog. The small fox flying the plane reached out, grabbed the blue one by the arm, and yanked him toward the cockpit, letting go when he was sure that the hedgehog realized that he was safe. Sonic quickly got his feet under him, rebounding off the back of the seat, flipping once in the air, and landing smoothly on the right wing of the plane. Tails quickly adjusted the angle of the wings so Sonic wouldn't overbalance the aircraft before speaking.

"Asking for help!" He yelled over the wind, steering the plane toward Eggman's rapidly disappearing base. "That's new!"

"You would ask for help too, if you were plunging toward your death!" Sonic replied without shame. "Did you get Lil' me and you get where they needed to be? !"

"Yeah!" The fox yelled back ready to relay more of an answer. However, a loud alarm suddenly went off, screeching at him and making him flinch. Eying the screen in front of him, his face went pale. "Missiles on the radar! Hold on!" And, with that, he yanked the control stick, sending the plane into a steep, spinning nose dive. Sonic was immediately knocked onto his stomach, fingertips scrabbling at the edge of the wing to keep him onboard the plane.

Tails kept the nose pointed down for as long as possible, pulling up so close to the water that the belly of the aircraft scrapped the surface, before shooting back up, grinning in satisfaction as the heat seeking missiles chasing them slammed into the ocean. Quickly, he spun the plane to the right, avoiding another volley of the projectiles before zooming forward again, flipping into a loop-de-loop to direct the arsenals toward each other. They exploded in a shower of smoke and shrapnel, but Tails didn't waste time to watch the light show.

Cutting upward through the clouds, he flinched as they pressed through a thick patch of turbulence, sending Sonic fumbling backwards a few precious feet. "We're hitting some rough winds here!" Tails yelled toward the hedgehog, struggling to keep the plane straight. "I'm having some trouble keeping it steady! Hang on Sonic!"

Sonic didn't reply, just made some strange grunting and squeaking sounds as he attempted to stay connected to the plane. With a jerk, Tails turned the aircraft, sending them plummeting toward the ground once more.

The hedgehog fell forward, almost slipping completely off the opposite end of the wing, but Tails over-compensated and sent him jerking back at the last second. Sonic hissed as his arms protested the rough treatment, but made no sound past that, letting the fox concentrate on keeping them alive long enough to make it to Eggman's base.

"Sonic!" The kit yelled, tipping the plane so the blue one slid toward the cockpit. "Can you get to the handlebars? I need you to fire the lasers!" As he spoke, he carefully flicked open the plastic cover on a large red switch, pushing down on the button. "Battle Mode, engaged!" His voice called and Sonic had to scramble behind the cockpit to make sure he didn't get knocked off.

Quickly, the double wings of the biplane folded inward, reattaching themselves in an X-shape, allowing for more maneuverability and a faster speed, the landing gear was pulled in, the propeller blades collapsed into the body of the plane, disappearing from sight, and the tail compressed inward to uncover a booster, sending them shooting forward, straight through the path of four more missiles. Luckily, Tails managed to shoot them down before they were hit, but the fox looked strained, unable to steer in these perilous conditions and fire at the same time. "_Sonic!_" He yelled, tension evident in his tone.

"Yeah, I'm working on it!" The hedgehog answered, voice equally stressed. He was struggling to make it to the handlebars, the once flat surfaces of the aircraft now streamlined and unfriendly to his friction resistant shoes, and he grumbled a bit before jumping into the air and flipping toward the slender control stick, reaching out and snagging the yellow piece of plastic and metal at the last second. Planting his feet solidly on the flat surface under the secondary weapons command, he immediately began to pound on the buttons, not bothering to aim and taking out at least five projectiles without even trying.

The next few minutes were filled with fancy shooting and even fancier flying, yet they seemed to drag by for the pair. Slowly, the flying base inched close enough that Sonic could easily jump from the plane, but he couldn't abandon his post as sharp-shooter, or else doom Tails to a fiery plunge to the planet.

However, the fox seemed to anticipate this and he tapped a few complicated commands into the screen in front of him before extracting the large, yellow panel from the plane completely. Immediately, the dials and controls went dark and the aircraft started to drop like a rock.

"What are you _doing_? !" Sonic yelled, fingers gripping tight to the handlebars, his legs flying out behind him as he fell with the plane.

"The Tornado has an automatic autopilot if it drops below five hundred feet!" Came Tails' only explanation as he jumped out of the cockpit with his Miles Electric, the small, yellow handheld computer he seemed to carry with him everywhere these days. Sonic barely had time to let go before the fox grabbed his arm, towing the both of them back up to the base with his namesakes.

Somehow, through some extravagant aerial maneuvers from Tails, they managed to avoid all of the bombs thrown at them. When they got close enough to the base, Tails wasted no time tossing his living cargo at the hull, and Sonic curled into a ball, buzz-sawing his way through the thick metal like a knife through butter. He screamed into the room, slamming into the opposite wall with enough force to knock him dizzy for a few seconds. The fox dropped to his feet beside him, panting.

"Finally," the kit muttered, glancing down at the device in his hands. "The Tornado's heading home." He mumbled, dismissing a small pop-up and typing something new in. "We're on our own."

"Yup," Sonic agreed, shaking his head to dispel the dizziness from his system, "just like old times."

Tails rolled his eyes before tucking his computer under his arm. "Speaking of old times, how do you think the little you and me are doing?"

"Well, considering there's no alarms going off-" The hedgehog was cut off as a loud, obnoxious siren started to go off, red security lights flashing and lighting up the room. "Never mind." With a rough groan, he pulled himself to his feet. "Let's go inspect the damage, shall we?"

Tails didn't reply, just started toward the door, hacking into the code locking it in seconds and impatient waiting for it to crank open. "Do you think they managed to find Eggman, or do you suppose that a robot spotted them?"

"Are you kidding?" Sonic laughed, looking back and forth down the hall. "There's no way they let a _robot_ see them. Nah, this is totally Eggman's alarm." Seeing that the way was clear, he stepped out of the room before moseying his way down the corridor with his hands clasped behind his back.

Tails was about to continue the conversation when a blaze of blue sped between them, laughing maniacally. A few seconds later, a similar burst of gold flashed by, moving almost as fast as the azure blur, but a few inches above the ground, signaling flight, also laughing quite loudly.

"Wha…?" Both Sonic and Tails uttered at the same time, dumbfounded.

However, their confused expressions soon became ones of comical astonishment as a strange sound – a cross between a balloon exploding and a whale's mating call, if Sonic's instincts were correct – came from behind them and they both turned to see what it was.

Eggman was running down the hall towards them, gasping for breath and attempting to keep up with the two streaks of color that had just passed. His right hand was stretched out toward them, like he was still trying to grab them. He hadn't seen Sonic or Tails yet, but it was only a matter of time.

"My outrage will be the death of me," he muttered, placing a hand over his heart as he slowed to a walk, finally noticing the hedgehog and fox. "_You_!"

"Me," Sonic quipped, leaning against the wall.

"How dare you joke with me after what you've just done!"

"Woah, as much as I'd love to have been the one to cause you _this_ much emotional pain, I can't take credit."

"Don't be preposterous! I heard you say it!"

Suddenly, Sonic looked like he was struggling to keep a straight face. "Oh yeah? What did I say exactly?"

"I heard those childish things you said about my mustache," Eggman sniffed, rubbing at said facial accessory. "And I know it was you who threw all of the junk food out the window. How am I supposed to have a movie night without my popcorn, you _rat_? !"

"You know," a voice called from behind the evil doctor, startling him into jerking around, "you probably could have caught me if you stopped eating all that crap, Robotnik. Your cholesterol is probably through the roof."

"_You_!" The oversized man yelled, pointing his finger.

"Me."

"Actually," the older Sonic sped over to stand next to his younger self, leaning down on the shorter's head. "Us." Simultaneously, both hedgehogs cracked grins as wide as their faces, black and green eyes going wide.

"What the heck is going on here? !" Eggman roared, about to bodily charge both of the beaming hedgehogs. However, the base lurched under their feet, sending everything sliding toward the right wall.

"_Attention all robots, evil doctors, and supersonic blue hedgehogs," _a young voice crackled over the intercom. "_This is co-captain Tails, speaking from the bridge. This giant flying base of doom will soon be landing outside of Spagonia. I suggest you place your tray tables in their stowed and locked positions and fasten your seatbelts, because this thing has a huge blind spot and we might not be able to see where we're going." _

There was a pause and another, slightly older voice spoke next. "_Eggman," _the older Tails called laughingly,_ "All of your robots have been called away from the glaciers and are coming back." _He paused, listening to the amused whisper of his younger self._ "Oh, and you might want to upgrade your firewalls. 'Mustache' isn't exactly a great password._"

* * *

><p><em>It started out so good, but ended so poorly. I'm saddened. D:<em>

_This is my first time writing action… Any type of action. How did I do?_

_DID YOU KNOW THAT: There's an OVA reference hidden somewhere in this thing. Can you find it? _

_Uuuurgh. Fanfiction feels the need to ruin my beautiful formatting. Every time I put a question mark next to an exclamation point (? !, ! ?) the website feels the need to eat the second one, totally killing the effect of the sentence. That's why there's a space in between them. Don't worry, I know it's wrong, but, that's the coding's fault. _

_In Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360), there are two Tornado Defense levels where Tails flies the Tornado through an airspace filled with robots and Eggman's flying base and Sonic stands on a small platform attached to a handlebar type thing and fires lasers at oncoming enemies; this is my homage to it. _

_Yes, Sonic Unleashed is one of my all time favorite games (along with Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic Colors). Can you tell?_

_Review please?_


	6. Oh, that is unbelievably pathetic!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Oh, that is unbelievably pathetic!"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> You should probably know that the OVA is my utmost favorite thing with it comes to Sonic (besides the games, though it's probably even with those). I absolutely adore the movie (and the voice actors). _Lovelovelovelove_. That being said, the OVA is very much my hypothetical bible of sorts when it comes to Sonic. It is where I pull the fact that Sonic and Tails live together (the games hint that Sonic don't exactly live _anywhere_, but just kinda roams), where I have hypothesized that Tails can move just as fast as Sonic (he keeps right with Sonic as they're running in the movie), and that Knuckles has an awesome hat. Your opinions may differ from mine, but this is my story, so you'll just have to deal with it, I suppose.

Written while I was listening to the Instrumental version of Tenderoni. Getting in the Generations mood!

* * *

><p>"We're almost there," Tails said, focusing on the sky in front of him. He spoke toward the screen of his Miles Electric, placed into the control panel of the Tornado, where Sonic's green-eyed face stared back at him. "The vacation house is about five minutes away."<p>

"Okay, lil'bro. You guys have fun. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Alright, Sonic. Make sure to call if you need anything or if Eggman attacks."

"I will, see you soon." The screen went dark, Sonic flipping off the vid-phone on his end of the line. Tails pressed a button, switching the output from phone to the inner conditions of the plane. Leaning backwards, he yelled over the wind, attempting to be heard by the hedgehog on the wing and the smaller fox in the seat behind him. "Five minutes until we get there!"

Sonic and Tails' vacation home was actually their first home, a house constructed out of the body of a jet plane and other bits of things that no one wanted anymore. Placed on a secluded piece of beach on South Island, it was probably worth thousands, but neither fox nor hedgehog would part with it.

They had first moved into it after their adventure on Angel Island, but before Sonic disappeared to explore Little Planet. It was homey and small, yet had everything they needed: a miniscule kitchen, two bunk beds that folded out of the walls, a large space for Tails to tinker to his heart's content, and a long stretch of sand for Sonic to run down until he was exhausted. It had nearly broken both of their hearts when they decided to move away from South Island and to the Mystic Ruins, but they had conceded that being closer to Station Square was a better option than being isolated in the middle of Mobian territory. Eggman had picked up the habit of attacking the humans and leaving the Mobians be, so it was for the best that they lived closer to the people they were supposed to be protecting.

However, that didn't mean that they had sold the house. No, they kept it, kept paying the outrageous taxes on the place, and vacationed there. Twice a year, in the middle of the summer and the dead of winter, they would escape back to the past, where things had been simply just the two of them, living life day by day. There was no anticipation for Robotnik's next attack, no antsy itching in Sonic's feet when he stayed on the same plot of land for too long, and no anti-social feelings from Tails as he worked on something mechanical. They were completely rested and at ease, unlike when they stayed in Tails' Workshop on the mainland.

"There it is!" A four year old voice yelled happily, scrambling onto the top wing of the Tornado with his older brother. "There's our house!"

Of course, the past incarnations of Sonic and Tails hadn't gone through the separation of leaving the beach front house, and it was still very much their home in their minds. When they had heard their older personalities talking about a possible trip down to South Island later on in the month, both had jumped at the chance.

"_Awesome!_" Sonic yelled, catapulting himself off the plane, heedless of the height they were flying at. Seconds later, his four year old fox friend followed his example, except flying down instead of dropping.

The vulpine flying the plane rolled his eyes, grabbing an old fashioned, garage opener-looking device and pressing the only button on it. Slowly, a runway, plated the same color red as the plane, cranked away from its hiding place, pushing aside overgrown trees. Aiming carefully, Tails guided the Tornado home.

The landing went off without a hitch, and the fox emerged from the house a few minutes later, the landing strip gone once more and the aircraft concealed from sight. The scene he walked into on the beach was one of familiarity. The younger hedgehog and fox were both wrestling in the sand, the kit attempting to drag his older brother into the water for a well deserved swim. Of course, Sonic resisted, but still allowed himself to be dragged toward the ocean. He didn't get very close, however, before starting to fight dirty.

Sharp shrieks of laughter filled the quiet clearing as the child was tickled into submission by his best friend. "_Sooooonic_!" He wailed through his amusement, gasping for breath. "Stop!"

"Nothing doing, lil'bro," the other replied, grabbing the fox around the midsection and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Playfully, the fox pounded on his friend's back with a tiny fist, kicking his legs uselessly. With a laugh, Sonic rushed down the beach, living cargo giggling the whole way.

A small smile wormed its way onto the older fox's face, and he sighed, a little nostalgic. His days of playing with Sonic like that had ended when they had left this house. Once they had moved to the Mystic Ruins, everything had changed. Sonic had become antsier, needing to go out and see the world. Tails had been forced to grow up faster than he would have liked, because Sonic wasn't a constant guiding presence over his shoulder any longer. Of course, the hedgehog always came back at least twice a week to check on him and make sure he hadn't blown anything up, but it simply wasn't the same. The fox didn't blame his friend in the least; he knew that the move closer to civilization had given Sonic a big taste of the outside world and he couldn't hold himself back. But still, he missed the days when they had played a board game, wrestled in the living room, or sat and watched TV together, simply enjoying each other's company.

That was one reason why he had wanted to come out here this weekend: time alone with his big bro. Sonic had been gung-ho about the trip as well, happily agreeing that a small vacation was what they all needed after the craziness of a time traveling adventure. However, right as they were about to walk out the door, Sonic had gotten a phone call. Almost immediately, he had backed out of the trip, claiming that there was something he had to do at the house. The hedgehog had still shooed his friends toward South Island nonetheless, telling them to have fun and that he meet them there if he could.

Tails had been disappointed, but he attempted to not let it show on his face. Though, he probably hadn't hidden it as well as he thought, because Sonic had sent him a sympathetic look as he pushed Tails toward the Tornado, his whole being screaming apologies to his little brother.

Without realizing, Tails dropped down into a sitting position, dejected, his finger swirling small circles into the sand. His thoughts took off after that, flipping through memories of things he and Sonic had done on this beach. Bonfires, sandcastles, writing lessons, hand-to-hand combat training, and even splashing wars all blurred together in his mind's eye, making him smile and feel even more depressed at the same time.

With another sigh, he fell backwards onto his back, letting out a gust of air. The sky was a bright blue, almost a lighter shade than it was at the Workshop. Lazily, clouds drifted past, giant globs of nothingness. _This is what I'm gonna be doing for the next week_, he thought to himself, closing his eyes, _lazing around by myself while the other two bond. _He wasn't being petty or jealous, just stating a fact, but he still felt a little betrayed as he thought that.

Eventually, he fell asleep. He didn't mean to, but the warm sand coupled with a doubly warm sun made it almost impossible to avoid the call of slumber. He didn't know how long he snoozed, but when he woke, his neck and left tail were sore from laying the wrong way. He didn't wake on his own accord. Rather, a loud voice penetrated his sleep addled brain and half-roused him into wakefulness.

"Oh, that is _unbelievably_ pathetic!" Sonic's voice cracked across the beach, reminding the astraphobic fox of lightning and making him half-shiver. "You blew us off for a date with your _not-so-girlfriend_?"

"I did _not_ blow you off!" An older version of the same voice argued back, angry. "I'm here, aren't I?" He took a deep breath. "And it wasn't a date. Some jerk has been harassing Amy and I simply convinced him to back off. When she called, she was almost crying. What was I supposed to do?"

"Uh, tell Amy to call the police? It's not _our_," he put extra emphasis on the pronoun, reminding the hedgehog just who he was talking to, "responsibility to take care of _every_ problem that _every_ person has. Besides," he continued, cutting across any opposition, "you promised Tails that you would spend this week with him. Telling him that you '_might_' show up isn't the best way to keep a promise."

"I know, but Tails is fine! I'm only half a day late!"

"Bull," the other bickered back. "Do you _see_ him? He's _asleep_! I don't know if he's changed in the past ten years, but the Tails I know never sleeps during the day. He doesn't like to waste daylight like that."

Silence followed the argument, and Tails was afraid that Sonic would leave, his natural reaction to any unfavorable situation simply to run, but he was shocked to hear footsteps coming in his direction. Cracking open his blue eyes a tad, he was awarded with the sight of Sonic's golden buckled, red shoes slowly walking towards him.

When the hedgehog was close enough to the fox, he fell onto one knee, reaching down and lightly shaking Tails' shoulder.

Faking sleepiness, Tails rolled over, opening his eyes. "S-Sonic?" His voice cracked usefully, helping his act.

"Hey kiddo," the hedgehog greeted, a sad smile on his face. "What'cha sleeping for?"

Yawning, Tails slowly sat up. "I guess I was too excited to sleep last night, so I needed a nap now." Seeing a guilty look come across Sonic's face, Tails hurried forward. "Did you do what you needed to?"

"Not yet." Sonic answered, a mischievous twinkle making his eyes shine. "But, I think I'll get on that now!" With a grunt, he grabbed the fox around the middle, hauling the two tail up into his arms. "Jeeze dude, you're heavy. Would it kill you to lose a little weight?"

Recognizing banter when he heard it, Tails couldn't help but laugh. "You first," he retorted, climbing out of the hedgehog's arms and settling himself into the small niche between Sonic's shoulder blades and his top quills, careful not to cut himself. "Do you know how hard it is to carry your blue behind for an extended amount of time?" Sonic wrapped his arms around each of the fox's legs, holding him in place on his shoulders.

"Hey, don't be hating on my gorgeous bod'," Sonic quipped back, walking toward the house. "It's hard to maintain this figure."

"What figure?" Tails laughed, leaning his cheek against the side of Sonic's head. "That blue pot-belly?"

"Oh, that's _it_!" Sonic yelled, reaching up and pulling the fox off his shoulders. Tails, calculating his odds, quickly squirmed his way out of the hedgehog's hands before taking off in the opposite direction, toward the water. "Oh, _no_ you don't!" Blithely, Sonic's accelerated across the beach, tackling the fox to the ground before he could reach the ocean.

The wrestling match that followed was playfully brutal, and somehow, Tails actually succeeded in hauling Sonic into the water. The hedgehog, slightly in shock from getting wet, sat in the shallows for what seemed like forever before glaring at the fox and slamming his gloved hands in his direction, sending up a huge spray of water that soaked his adversary from head to toe. The kitsune wasted no time retaliating, sending Sonic practically falling over as a wave of water crashed into his chest, courtesy of his namesakes.

Soon enough, both fighters were waterlogged and attempting to drag themselves out of the salt water. They were stopped, however, when two beings bodily attacked, sending them back into the surf. Giggling hysterically, the smaller fox dove into the sea, dragging his older self out further into the ocean for a deep water game of tag.

"Now, that's what I call cute," the small hedgehog said once both he and his older self were back on the beach, drying under the sun. "Kids having fun in the water." He winced as the four year old viciously pounced onto the back of his older self, sending both of them under. "Playing fair, something I have yet to teach him." He mumbled the last piece under his breath.

"Never happens," the other replied, shoving his arm under the black eyes of his past incarnation. "Little dork _bit_ me."

"You deserved it, if you ask me, ignoring him the way you did."

Sonic groaned, falling backward. "Way to kill the mood, dude."

"You're welcome." Sonic could practically _feel_ the cheeky smile of the other. "How about a race?"

The question was so unexpected that Sonic wasn't sure that he heard correctly. "What?"

"Across the beach and back," Mini-Sonic continued. "Ready?" The older Sonic scrambled onto his feet, never one to turn down a challenge.

"_Go!"_

The sonic boom was heard by even the two foxes playing under the water.

* * *

><p><em>I think, if we all could talk to our past selves, we'd get a few choice words about our decisions. <em>

_Yes, I'm aware that Sonic can't swim. (Who doesn't know that?) Notice how I didn't say 'swim' I said 'sat in the shallows'. Though, I was probably being generous. He was more than likely 'flailing in the shallows'. _

_For those you who guessed or were curious, the OVA reference in the last ficlet was Tails saying "We're hitting some rough winds here! I'm having some trouble keeping it steady! Hang on Sonic!" and then Sonic making random squeaking sounds. That's almost a direct rip from the movie. :D Those little noises he makes always make me laugh.  
><em>

_I feel like this one's not up to par with the rest. *upset*_

_Review please?_


	7. The Treasure is Your Enemy

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"The treasure is your enemy."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Oh, my gosh. I'm so upset with myself. _Knuckles_! How dare I feature Shadow before you? I'm so ashamed. :O

You guys, I love Knuckles with all of my heart. He's right up there with Sonic and Tails, one of my absolute favorites, so for me to neglect him in this way is unheard of. However, the reasoning behind my stalling on featuring him in one of these stems from the fact that SEGA hasn't confirmed him for _Generations_ yet. Of course, we all already _know_ that he's gonna be in it, but I need to know if there's gonna be a Classic version of him. I'm almost positive that there's going to be, but I still can't be sure.

So, for the time being, I will only be dealing with the Modern version. Let's just say that the Classic version is off protecting the Master Emerald or something.

Now, cue the Pokémon reference!

A wild Knugget Guardian has appeared! Let us all grovel at the amazingness of his awesome hat!

* * *

><p>"Ya'know Knux," Sonic began, pulling his board out of the closet, "for someone who has an 'important ancient duty' or whatever, you sure have plenty of time to compete in hoverboard races." Easily dodging the half-hearted swing at his head, he closed the door, turning toward the red echidna. "I mean, who's watching the Master Emerald right now?"<p>

Knuckles followed Sonic into the kitchen, dragging a red hoverboard of his own behind him. His purple goggles were hanging around his neck, his usual streamlined boots swapped for the more rider friendly blocky footwear. The purple eyes of the echidna lazily bounced around the room, taking in its messy appearance. "The smaller me is taking care of the Master Emerald," he answered, knocking a pair of red sneakers off a chair with a smooth swipe and sitting down at the table. "Not that it's any of your business, what happens on my Island."

"Hey," Sonic scolded, grabbing the shoes off the floor and shoving them onto a different chair, "I'm just worrying about the good of the planet. Angel Island needs to stay in the sky." With a sigh, Sonic opened the refrigerator before reaching in and grabbing a bowl of grapes, washing them in the sink, and placing them in front of the crimson mammal. Knuckles wasted no time digging into his favorite food, shoving at least five pieces of fruit into his mouth at once.

"Jeeze," Sonic gagged, leaning his board against the wall, "and people say I'm disgusting when _I_ eat."

Knuckles ignored him, opting to gulp down a few more green spheres instead. "So, what do you say?" He asked, between bites. "You think you and Tails can enter the competition with me?"

"Isn't this one a singles contest, though?" The hedgehog responded, sitting down beside Knuckles in the only chair not being used. "Every man for himself and all that?"

"Well, yeah," the echidna answered, pushing the empty grape bowl away from his person, "but with the three of us competing, that's a bigger chance of the prize ending up in good hands."

"What exactly is this prize?" Despite himself, Sonic was curious. Knuckles usually wasn't so gung-ho for any type of public competition, liking his privacy, but if the prize was good enough… "Don't tell it's some kind of lost Aztec Skull or something."

"Don't be ridiculous," The echidna retorted, snorting. "Those were lost millennia ago in the great Dragon Wars. The prize for this contest is much more exciting anyway."

It was Sonic's turn to snort. "What's more exciting then thirteen crystal skulls that can grant your heart's desire?"

"The reward for winning this hoverboard race, that's what." Knuckles replied with fervor, pounding his fist on the table for emphasis. "It's full of mystery and danger and ri-!"

"Okay," Sonic interjecting, holding up his hands. Knuckles was staring to scare him with his enthusiasm. Usually, the only thing the echidna was eager about was sitting in the sun and protecting a giant, green rock. "What _is_ this prize?"

"Well…" The way Knuckles trailed off had Sonic's left eye twitching. The hedgehog stared at the echidna with a face that could only be described as 'not amused.'

"You don't know what it is, _do you_?"

"Not exactly…" The Guardian replied, scratching the back of his head. "The brochure thing that I got said something about a treasure that no one's seen for centuries."

Sonic's face had evolved from 'not amused' to 'flat and expressionless' in a matter of seconds. "How did you get a brochure on a _floating island in the sky_?"

"That's not important," Knuckles cut across, attempting to salvage the situation. "What matters is that there's a _treasure_ and we need to get it so it doesn't end up going to someone greedy and underhanded and –"

"Knuckles," Sonic interrupted, speaking through a wave of laughter, "dude, repeat after me: the treasure is your enemy." He over-pronounced the last statement, making sure that the echidna understood what he was saying.

Knuckles looked ready to argue if the glare on his face was anything to go by, but a bright blue blur screaming its way into the room cut him off. The blur bounced off the table, spinning through the room, before halting in front of the refrigerator, yanking it open, and grabbing a can of soda out. Popping the top, the newly arrived mini-Sonic glanced toward the two adults still staring at each other over the empty grape bowl.

"Woah," he said, marching over to the table and grabbing the sneakers out of the chair, "don't let me interrupt your testosterone battle." Hopping into the seat, he slipped the shoes over his socked feet, wiggling his toes happily. "Wow," he breathed, "Tails did an awesome job. These fit perfectly!"

"Why thank you," a young voice answered, the fox it belonged to entering the room also. "The polymer just needed a little stretching, no big deal." Strolling up to the fridge, the thirteen year old grabbed a bottle of water. Turning to look back at the table, he paused. "Woah, Sonic, if you glare any harder, Knuckles'll have a hole in his head." Quickly, so as to avoid getting pulled into the argument that his big brother and Knuckles were having, Tails made to leave, but he paused when he caught sight of the hoverboard propped against the wall near the door.

Suddenly, the fox's eyes lit up and he darted across the room so quickly, even Sonic had trouble keeping track of him. Tails latched onto the board like a lost puppy as he dragged it across the room.

"Is there another hoverboard race coming up? !" He practically yelled, setting the hoverboard on the ground and pulling his screwdriver out of nowhere. In seconds, the precious wiring and mechanics of the board were exposed to the world. "I'll need to adjust the gear change mechanic before then… And the air boost could use a tune-up…" He mumbled, words almost incomprehensible to those around him. "Grinding gear… That needs an upgrade."

"Wait, Tails," the taller hedgehog called, holding out his hands. "There's no race that you need to worry about." When Knuckles made an offended noise, Sonic glared at him again. "The idiot over here is entering a singles competition, but I think me and you need to sit this one out."

If the fox heard this, he made no indication, just kept muttering and examining Sonic's board.

"What exactly are these hoverboard races?" The smaller Sonic asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"Well," his older counterpart began, "first they started out as a way for Eggman to get the Chaos Emeralds, but they've slowly evolved into a sort of sport for dare devils and those of us who have nothing better to do. Usually, outrageous prizes are offered when a main circuit race is called. Crazy rewards help pull in people from all over, including those of us who don't even live on the surface." He nudged Knuckles with his elbow. "Mr. Gullibility here has fallen for the clever marketing trick of hidden prizes. They don't tell you exactly what you're getting so you can't complain if you win."

"Ah," was all the smaller hedgehog could say. "And these boards, they actually _hover_?"

"Oh yeah," the future incarnation answered, yanking Knuckles' red hoverboard away from the echidna. Ignoring the angry sound the crimson being made, he pressed a button on the underside of the ruby casing, powering the air boosters on. Setting the board on the ground, he watched an amazed look spread across the other hedgehog's face as the board floated a few inches off the ground.

"Way past cool," he breathed, inching up to the red board and poking it with one finger. "And you _ride_ these?"

"Yup," answered the green eyed hedgehog, "they don't move as fast as my feet, but you can pull awesome tricks on the-"

A loud explosion rocked the Workshop, sending all four beings in the kitchen stumbling to the ground.

"_What?_" Both Sonics stuttered at the same time, black and green eyes focused on where they thought the source was.

"Don't look at me!" Tails squeaked from where he was crouched under the table, having been pushed there by the older Sonic.

"Sonic…" Knuckles asked, staring at a something on the kitchen counter. "Where's the microwave?"

"Oh no." Three voices, two hedgehog and one fox, gasped at the same time, realization crossing their faces at the same time.

"_Tails!_" Little Sonic wailed at the same time Big Sonic gasped,

"_T2!" _

Both were gone in equal bursts of cobalt, the double sonic booms shaking the foundation almost as much as the explosion had.

"Tails," Knuckles mumbled, leaning down and looking down at the fox still under the table. "You might want to get the fire extinguisher."

"Good idea."

Knuckles sighed, leaning back as Tails darted out of the room with the red cylinder, propping his feet up on the counter. "And they say that I'm not observant." Snorting to himself, he pushed his foot against the wood, tilting the chair back onto its rear legs.

Three seconds later, the chair tipped all the way over, sending the echidna tumbling to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and hurt pride. "Thank Chaos nobody saw that." He mumbled into the floor, nursing his throbbing skull with his right hand.

"Think again," an obnoxious voice called in a sing-song tone. Knuckles didn't bother looking up from where his face was pressed against the floor.

He could practically _feel_ Sonic's smirk from his tone.

* * *

><p><em>And that was how Tails got banned from touching the microwave forevermore. <em>

_Sorry this is a day late. My Internet has been out for the past week, so I had to lug my laptop – all five pounds of it – to McDonalds to use their Wifi, because I love you guys. The next one'll probably be late too if my Internet is still out. (Which'll probably make me cry.) _

_I had so much trouble with this one… First, it featured Rouge, then Sinbad, and then it was based on Unleashed… I'm just happy I managed to write something, honestly. (Even though everybody seems out of character to me.) _

_The thirteen Aztec Crystal Skulls are something I ripped right off _American Dragon: Jake Long. _Yeah, I have no shame. _

_Now it's time for a deleted scene that will never happen!_

* * *

><p>Sonic was running. That, in of itself, wasn't unusual. The fact that there were two of him, and they were both rushing around the rounded surface of a giant checkered ball dotted with blue and red spheres was what was unusual.<p>

"How many more? !" The taller of the two hedgehogs yelled, turning sharply right before he hit a bumper. The fox following him wasn't quite as fast however, and he crashed right into it, sending himself careening backward a few feet. He quickly caught up to his friend, grumbling the whole time.

"Dunno!" The young voice of the other hedgehog called back, a loud ringing chime signaling that he had picked up the last ring available in this strange Zone. "But, we just got a Perfect, so there can't be that many!"

"Great, another Continue…" The older mumbled, grabbing the hand of the fox behind him when he started to fall behind him. "That's like the fourth one."

Rushing forward, he jumped over a line of red orbs, making sure to drag Tails with him. Turning quickly, he avoided another group of red, too small to be turned into rings, and catapulted himself over a bumper, evading a perilous sea of red spheres.

His jump sent him crashing straight into the path of his younger self, unfortunately, and they slammed together, knocking each other senseless. The two small foxes following them also collided, both flying in opposite directions and out of sight like they had hit a spring.

When the two hedgehogs sat up, rubbing their heads, they gasped at the sight of their opposite counterpart.

Somehow, to both of their horror, their beautiful blue fur had been changed to the red of the orbs around them.

* * *

><p><em>Obscure jokes are obscure. <em>

_The Sonics were blue, like the spheres. And then they ran into each other and turned each other red. The Tailses flew off in different directions because they're gold like those gold catapulting spheres. Geddit?_

_The fact that Tails follows Sonic around the Special Stages of Sonic 3 always puzzled me. Why doesn't he fly and help guide Sonic through that accursed ball maze? WHY DOESN'T HEEEEEEEE?_

_The FAQ for this story has been updated. Go to my profile for the link to my deviantART Journal with the FAQ if you're curious. Also, don't be afraid to ask me questions; I'll answer if I can._

_Review (the main ficlet) please?_


	8. I Did What I had to Do

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"I did what I had to do."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> We get into some pretty heavy stuff in Tails' past in this one. Some things you might not agree with. Express understanding of the fox's solo game _Tails Adventure_ is not exactly needed, but the ficlet will make more sense if you know what the heck I'm getting at with this. Also, this one takes place during _Generations_.

* * *

><p>Something messed up the Time Holes.<p>

In hindsight, it was probably a Time Stone, picked up by Mini-Tails right before they were sucked back into the timelessness of the Holes. The unusual energy that flowed through the time warp mechanic must've been offset and confused as it sensed and brushed against the Time Stone, channeling it into the fox, instead of through the hedgehog(s). The Hole spat them out quicker than usual, instead of letting them hang in their small bubble of frozen time, throwing them viciously into another piece of the past.

The scenery wasn't familiar to the hedgehogs, which further added to the confusion. So far, every single event they had encountered had been from their shared past, familiar and almost welcome to at least one of the two. The fact that they were somewhere foreign and strange was so blindsiding that both had to sit down for a second.

Their foxy companions, however, instantly recognized where they were, and immediately both stiffened, familiar with the scenery. Twitching slightly, the smaller fox inched closer to his hedgehog friend, worming his hand in between the fingers of his older brother. Mini-Sonic glanced down, seeing the alarmed look on his charge's face.

"Tails, what's wrong?" He asked, throwing his arm over his small friend in a half-hug.

"I don't like this place, Sonic." He whispered, his voice cracking with thinly-veiled fear. "It's scary."

Sharing a look with his older self, Sonic squeezed the fox a little tighter. "It'll be okay, kiddo. We'll figure a way outta here."

The small fox shook his head, his ears slapping against his skull. "No Sonic, the only way out is if we beat _them_." His black eyes were wild with terror and he squirmed away from the hedgehog, pacing back and forth across the clearing. "They'll never leave until they get the Emeralds! We have to get the Emeralds before they do!" He fidgeted as he walked, wringing his hands as if feeling his gloves for something.

"What are you talking about, buddy?" Sonic asked, getting up and placing a hand on the canine's shoulder. "The Emeralds aren't here."

"My robot!" The fox suddenly yelled, his voice cracking and sharp, foreign to the hedgehog. He shook off the hand on his shoulder, the desperation he was feeling completely showing on his face "I need to find my robot!" Before any of the others could blink, he was gone, straight into the forest.

"Wait, Tails!" The smaller Sonic yelled, making to chase after his best friend. The older Tails met him before he was fully on his feet, throwing an arm across his chest and stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't!" He commanded, his face dark. "Let him go. He needs this." His blue eyes were hooded and stormy, thick with a fierce anger.

"What are you talking about, Tails? !" Sonic yelled out of desperation. He was tempted to just push past the fox. "Where are we? !"

"Cocoa Island," he answered, his voice flat. "A small island home to Flickies and a few Mobians." His tone was matter-of-fact, like he was reading out of a book. "It rests on a coral reef, just off the coast of Westside Island." He gulped to himself, gripping at the air for something that wasn't there. "It's also where I came from before you found me in Emerald Hill."

Suddenly, the older hedgehog was there, his hands on the kitsune's shoulders. "Tails…" He breathed, forcing the fox to look up at him. "Is this where you were born?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully, staring straight into the green eyes of his friend. "I don't remember."

Taking a deep breath, the hedgehog leaned back. "Okay, so we're probably in your past." He said, categorizing their situation. "And this is before we met, so we've gone _backwards_ instead of forward."

"Something's gone wrong," the younger hedgehog answered, bouncing on his toes. "And, it probably has to do with Tails."

The fox shook his head. "It wasn't me. There wasn't anything different with the Time Hole that I could tell."

"I wasn't talking about you."

As if to confirm the younger hedgehog's words, an explosion rocked the forest, sending trees toppling and upsetting flickies from their roosts. Above them, three large planes zoomed by, setting the forest on fire with flame throwers. All three Mobians dropped to the ground, covering their heads with their arms. A loud popping filled the air as the sap covered trees went up in smoke.

"What was _that_? !" Macro-Sonic gasped, sucking in smoke-laced oxygen.

"The Battle Kukku Army," Tails answered grimly. "They're trying to find the Emeralds, so they set the Poloy Forest on fire to drive all of the Mobians out." He started to crawl along the ground toward the tree line. "We need to get to my house. It's isolated and safe."

"How far away is your house? !" The smaller hedgehog asked as he scooted down the earth after the fox. He winced as his belly scrapped across a pine cone.

"Through the forest," the fox called back, coughing low in his throat. "We'll have to make a run for it, but it's not that far at the speed of sound."

"I like your thinking, Tails." The older Sonic answered happily, jumping to his feet. Immediately, his head disappeared into the wall of smoke hanging over them. Reaching down, he snagged the fox by the wrist before darting forward, dragging his friend along.

Miserably, the other Sonic followed suit, covering his mouth and nose with his hand. Silently, he vowed to himself to never become that happy-go-lucky. It seriously ruined the tough-guy image he was going for.

o0o

When they reached Tails' house, a small bungalow snuggled nondescriptly into the scenery, the fox wasted no time breaking away from the hedgehogs and rushing through the door, dashing right up to the table in the middle of the one-room house.

There stood the smaller version of the fox, staring down at the table, his hands flying as he tinkered with something laying there.

"What'cha got?" The older asked, startling the smaller.

"Remote Robot," the other answered shortly, waving a small yellow handled screwdriver. "Bomb gloves are on the workbench."

Not hesitating, the older fox rushed to said bench, yanking his gloves off as he went. When he reached his destination, he wasted no time reaching down and grabbing a pristine white piece of fabric, pulling it on over his golden hand and fastening the snap in the fold. "Thank Chaos for one-size-fits-all," he mumbled under his breath, throwing an identical pair toward his younger self. The small fox caught the gloves in the air without looking up.

Snapping his fingers, Tails watched with a small smile on his face as a black bomb unfolded from nowhere, assembling in the palm of his right hand in a matter of seconds. A small button was the last to form, where a fuse would regularly go, and he wasted no time compressing it, grimacing as it started to beep and flash. Rushing over to a window, he tossed the black sphere out, watching as it exploded once it hit the ground.

"Non-explosive until compression against a hard surface." He muttered, staring at the spot where it had gone off. "No scorch marks; organic material safe."

"Tails," the older Sonic breathed, gaping at the place where the bomb had detonated. "What…? What _is_ this? _Bombs_?" Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. "Bombs against living beings?"

Both foxes looked up at him with serious faces. Those expressions spoke of pain, a scarred childhood, and suddenly it struck Sonic – both of him – just how young Tails had to be when all of this happened. It was hard for the hedgehogs to comprehend going up against something like robot-enabled foes at the age of four (or younger). They had been ten, a ripe age in its own right, but ten held nothing on four.

"Sonic," the older fox replied heavily, his hands dropping to his sides. "You don't understand. These birds… They have _weapons_. Guns and flame throwers and bombs. I was, no, _am_ overwhelmed by sheer firepower. I can't move as fast as you, and I defiantly couldn't fly for nearly as long as I can now." He paused, swallowing. "I did what I had to do."

Then, without pausing, Tails turned to the table, scooting in right beside his younger self. "Replace the red wire," he mumbled after gazing down at the small robot lying cracked open on the table. "It's frayed."

The small fox followed the command, yanking out the ruby colored cable without preamble. Pushing away from the table, he dashed out of the room, heading towards the back of the house in search of a replacement piece.

"Tails," the small Sonic called, catching the attention of the only kitsune in the room. "You… You're right. I can't imagine what it must have been like to go through this at such a young age… Is this why…" He trailed off, seeming to lose his nerve.

"Is this why you're so scared of lightning?" The older Sonic took up the question, reaching forward and grabbing the fox's shoulder.

Tails turned his head away, hooding his eyes. "Yes and no." He answered, his voice soft. "I was always scared of lightning, but all the bomb blasts from the Kukkus and from myself… It helped to heighten that fear."

Sonic nodded, a grim look on his face. "And going through this again, all these explosions and bombs… Will they make Little Tai-" The one in question returned to the room in a flurry of gold fur and fast words.

"We don't have any red write, so I grabbed green because we didn't use that color yet. The green will be misleading though, so we'll have to pay attention if we have to open it back up and make sure not to disconnect it unless we have to." The last half of the last sentence fell off as the fox almost fell over in his attempt to gasp in a breath. "The bombs also need some tweaking. The blast radius needs to be condensed, in case we have to throw one in a small space and-"

"Hold on Tails," the past incarnation of Sonic commanded, "you won't need any bombs."

"But Sonic, that's the only way to defeat the Kukku Army is by throwing small explosives, or else they'll see them coming and just get away."

"You forget, little bro'," Sonic chuckled, tapping the small fox on the nose, "that you're talking to the fastest thing alive. They won't know what hit them when I spindash them into next Thursday."

"But, Soni-"

"No buts Tails, you're helping me through my future," the young hedgehog said, reminding everyone that his older self's past was _his_ future, "the least I can do is help you in your past." He smiled down at the kit, flashing a thumbs up. "What do you say, kid?"

Tails hesitated, looking up towards his older self. The elder fox had already accepted the help of the hedgehogs without them having to ask, but he nodded toward his younger self, affirming his acceptance. This nod was all the tiny vulpine needed. He catapulted himself onto his best friend, hugging the hedgehog fiercely.

"Thank you, Sonic," he whispered into the blue fur of Sonic's shoulder, smothering escaping tears.

"Anytime, buddy," the hedgehog answered, rubbing soothing circles into the fox's back. Behind the pair, green and blue eyes shared a look as their owners smiled secretly. The older hedgehog easily threw his arm over the shoulder of his thirteen year old best friend, the fox leaning into the side of his big brother. Together, they turned toward the door, ready to take on the Battle Kukku Army.

Because, despite every odd, when they worked together, nothing could stop them.

o0o

_We are Tails and Sonic_

_Sonic and Tails_

_Together forever_

_We play our games_

_We are Tails and Sonic_

_On the winning way_

'_Cause we're friends for life_

_Together we stay_

-"Sonic and Tails"

* * *

><p><em>It took me like eight days to write this. It's not even that long. That just shows how addicting <em>Castle_ is. I blame my mom. Still no Internet, and I'm changing the update schedule to once a week for the time being, because school is killing me and I'm no longer ahead in my writing. Updates will come on Saturdays, but since I didn't updated last Saturday, I'm putting this up now. _

_The second half of this was written after I found one of our kittens dead in the middle of the road (R.I.P. Link), and I was completely numb, so I apologize if the emotion is lacking. Please forgive me. _

_I would like to __**remind **__all readers not to correct things in my _**notes**_ via review. Knuckles has not been officially confirmed. Yes, I've seen the video; doesn't mean anything to me. Amy's been seen in a video too, but you don't see me going to stories and going "OHEY YOU'RE WRONG! AMY'S IN A YT VIDEO AT THE ENTRANCE OF CHEMICAL PLANT." That is quite rude and just jacks up the review count artificially without giving me any feedback on the actual prose. If you would like to tell me something about one of my notes (__**not the prose of the story**__) then __**PM**__ me._

_Review please?  
><em>


	9. Do You Really Think You Can Defeat Me?

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Do you really think you can defeat me?"

**Notes: **Oh… My… Gosh. I broke the fifty review mark! _What_? I had never expected… Never even _hoped_ to get that many reviews… Thank you guys, so _so_ much.

So many ideas for this prompt… _So many_… Shadow, Sonic and Sonic racing, video games, Olympics, Sonic Gameworld (obscure game, look it up), and Sonic R were all concepts that I thought about. The fact that I chose this idea says a lot about how much of a glutton for punishment I am. How dare I do a character introduction for a game that's not out yet? The odds of me being right are nonexistent, so just know that what you see here obviously isn't canon.

I just realized that I start most of these with Sonic suffering in some way. This amuses me.

This one takes place during _Generations_.

* * *

><p>Sonic sighed as he waded through the shallows, wincing every time a wave of water splashed across his back. Behind him, his younger counterpart was practically dragging himself through the liquid, cursing through whimpers of fear and biting back tears.<p>

"You would think the Time Holes would have better aim," Tails laughed as he chased his younger self through the water. "They should learn to be more considerate toward your needs, Sonic."

Grumbling a few choice words under his breath, Sonic chose not to reply. Instead, he reached back, grabbed the hand of his juvenile self, and towed him toward the rapidly approaching shoreline. The youthful hedgehog didn't seem to register the speed increase or the hand on his arm, he was so far gone in his fear.

When they arrived at the beach, Sonic fell to the ground, grasping at the small rock particles and feeling it trickle between his fingers. His younger self followed his example seconds later, face planting into the sand and not moving past that.

"We're on Angel Island," Tails began as he walked up and shook himself dry, spattering the hedgehogs with water. Both stiffened, both from the fox's words and the water. "The soil content is volcanic, but the Chaos readings are off the map."

"I'm not even gonna ask how you know that…" The younger hedgehog mumbled around a mouthful of sand, finally picking his head up from the sand. Uneasily, he glanced around.

"Like this," the fox answered, bending down and grabbing a handful of sand. With a gentle toss, he threw the particles into the air, smiling at the small gasps that escaped from both of the hedgehogs.

Where the light hit the sand, the small pieces of rock seemed to _shine_. The green light refracted off the sand and seemed to hang in the air after the actual stone granules had already hit the ground. Mini-Sonic stared in awe, not noticing how his eyes seemed to flash the same shade of emerald as the Chaos bits before flipping back to the original black.

"Everything on Mobius has Chaos Energy in it," Tails lectured, catching the attention of the three other Mobians, "even the rocks, but usually, it's not tangible. You wouldn't know by looking at a mountain or a river that it's a well of Chaos, ready to be tapped into with the right equipment. The only place where you can tell is here, near the Master. The Chaos is more concentrated and the sunlight makes it easy to see."

"Makes sense," Sonic nodded, glancing toward the water, noticing how it had a slightly green tint. Standing fully, he popped his back and leaned over to stretch out his legs. "So, you guys know what this means?" He asked, pulling on his toe. When no one offered up an answer, he grinned. "We get to see Knuckles!"

o0o

Sonic was indeed correct. They got to see Knuckles. Though, they didn't actually _see_ him until the older hedgehog was thrown across the clearing by a small spiked fist.

As the blue hedgehog screamed past them, the younger speedster and two kitsunes skidded to a stop inches from the echidna's still outstretched fist. All three stared up/down at the undersized red being, resisting the urge to smile at the forced serious look on his face.

"Déjà freaking vu." Sonic grumbled, walking up to the staring quartet, rubbing his head. "What gives Knuckles? !"

"Get off my Island!" The small echidna practically yelled, slamming his fists together. "And give me my Emeralds!"

"In that order?" Both Sonics asked at the same time, flat expressions on their faces.

Knuckles paused, going back over what he just said in his head. "Give me my Emeralds and get off my Island!"

"No can do, dude," the older hedgehog replied, rubbing the small echidna on the head as he walked past. Knuckles lashed out at him, missing the hedgehog by a mile as he sidestepped in a blur of blue. "Woah man, watch it."

"Give me the Emeralds," he growled in response through clenched teeth, swinging his fist toward the hedgehog once more. "I know you have them. He told me so."

"Wait, wait… Eggman, right? We're at the spot where you're a gullible mess and you think me and Tails are here to take over your Island with the Chaos Emeralds, right?" The older hedgehog placed his hands on his hips, elbows going out at right angles, and he laughed heartily, throwing his head back. "Oh, that's rich, Knuckles. Even better the second time. Somebody take a picture so I can remember this moment!"

Knuckles looked even more annoyed now, partly because he had no idea what this giant blue idiot was talking about and also because he wasn't being listened to. "Listen here, you blue freak," he commanded. The hedgehog just continued to snicker. "Give me my Emeralds and then get out of here. You have no idea what you're dealing with."

"Oh," Sonic zipped around the echidna, moving so fast, there wasn't even an after image or blue streak. "I don't think you know what _you're _dealing with, little man."

Knuckles swung around, his eyes going wide when he found the hedgehog. "I don't know how you're doing this, you weirdo." The small red mammal declared, his eyes never leaving Sonic's relaxed form. The hedgehog was leaning against the sheer rock wall behind him, his arms crossed. His friends – the two almost identical foxes, and the other strangely colored hedgehog – were still standing in the same spot, watching the exchange with mixed looks of shock and amusement. "But, do you really think you can defeat me?" He asked, speaking with mainly false bravado. "Here on the Island, I am at my most powerful."

"Yeah?" The hedgehog asked, pushing off the wall. He stalked forward smoothly, circling around the echidna like a shark. "Well, I know all about your Master Emerald." Leaning down, he smiled sweetly, small hedgehog teeth catching the light. "And, let me tell you, it makes me stronger too." He paused, his green eyes flashing, and sending a shiver up Knuckles' spine. "So, do _you_ think you can defeat _me_?"

In response, the crimson echidna tackled the hedgehog to the ground, raising his fist to slam it into the speedster's smirking face. However, because of Sonic's superior height, he simply pushed his way out from under the diminutive Knuckles, shoving his feet into the dirt to slide along the ground. He flipped up into a crouch, using his leftover momentum to swing his foot around and sweep Knuckles' feet out from under him. The echidna saw this coming however, and he easily jumped over Sonic's leg.

Sonic grunted, watching as the red Mobian got ready to attack him again. The hedgehog bent his knees, about to jump and meet Knuckles but something slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground.

"Stay down," a harsh voice yelled into his ear, its owner shoving off of his back to bodily tackle the small echidna. Both went down in a tangle of red limbs and curse words.

Sonic was yanked to his feet by a golden arm. Tails' face was grim, but Sonic barely got a look at it before a red body flew over their heads and hit the rock wall behind them, crumpling to the ground.

The little Sonic wasted no time dashing over Knuckles' prostate form, easing down to his knees and running probing fingers out the echidna's head and chest. "Still breathing," he muttered. "Broken ribs. Whoever did this packed one hell of a punch."

"Yeah, well," the mystery voice from before spoke, coming up to stand beside the older hedgehog, placing a heavy hand on Sonic's shoulder. "No one can punch this blue idiot in the face, except me."

Sonic grinned. "I always knew you had a habit of beating yourself up, Knuckles," he laughed, turning to the echidna, "but I never knew it was in the actual physical sense."

"Yeah, well," the purple eyed twenty-one year old answered, staring at the stirring form of his smaller self, "I never realized how annoying I used to be."

"Just be glad that your younger self didn't punch you in the face and then laugh at you. That grates on the nerves."

* * *

><p><em>Seriously Knuckles, you and your yellow socks and your laughing… It made Sonic 3 very amusing, but I really didn't need you to dump Sonic into Hydrocity. Imagine the therapy he had to go through after that.<em>

_Let me tell you what, SEGA is sneaky. I was sitting here listening to the Classic remix of City Escape, and my best friend told me that there's some Endless Mine melody mixed in. And, guess what, THERE IS! Oh my gosh, made my day. Sneaky sneaky. _

_This one is just… ew… Whatever. _

_It's late. Yeah, I know. Blame our still unresponsive Internet. _

_Review please?_


	10. You Have Some Skill

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"You have some skill."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> I don't know if I've made this clear enough, but I _hate_ Archie. With a burning passion. So, if you see something that could be considered Archie bashing… Well, it probably is.

* * *

><p>Sonic closed his eyes, hooding his green orbs with blue eyelids. His breathing was deep, his ears flicking at the slightest sound. Around him, he could feel the air currents, smell the burning plants, hear the faintest of footsteps, see the movement of the Chaos Energies in his mind. His inner ear allowed him to balance on the support beam he was precariously crouching on, not tipping to the right or left. His feet were perfectly centered, and a gust of wind ruffled his fur and quills, yet didn't faze him at this height. The sun beat down on his back, warming him through and making the beam hot to the touch. His gloved hands were gripping the sides of the beam, allowing him to feel the Energies all the way on the ground.<p>

A large, concentrated mass of positive Chaos Energy was racing towards him, followed closely by two neutral objects. Sonic opened his eyes, catching sight of his younger self tearing through the city, barely taking the corners and staying precious feet in front of the heat seeking missiles following him. He leaped over a car in one bound, grazed off the side of a nearby skyscraper, and landed back on the pavement in a ball. The missiles followed closely, slightly faltering when they sensed the hot engine of the car, but otherwise kept a steady pace after the hedgehog.

The small hedgehog rolled for a few more yards before coming back to his feet and picking up speed. He slammed through the sound barrier without preamble, cracking windows and sending large, deadly panes of glass heading towards the ground. Dodging deftly around these like a ballerina, he swerved around a corner, rushing through a line of rings.

The rings made his Chaos Energies peak for a second, giving him a quick burst of speed. He sped down the highway, dancing around people. The citizens didn't pause as the dash of blue sped by, more concerned with the missiles following it. Screams came every few seconds as they noticed the flying projectiles.

Suddenly, the small hedgehog faltered, his toe catching in a hidden crack in the sidewalk. His momentum crashed down upon him, sending him flailing toward the ground. At the last second, he tucked his head into his belly, falling into a ball to save himself from a nasty bruise. The missiles never slowed however, and they went sailing toward the hedgehog.

That is, until a blue being body slammed into the first one, kicking it around and sending it careening into the other. They went up in a giant fireball, feet from the ground, blowing out the windows of all of the surrounding buildings. Citizens dropped to the ground, screaming and covering their heads.

Sonic landed on one knee, the explosion rocking the whole city. The pavement buckled underneath him, fire hydrants exploding as the water lines they were connected to snapped in half; the electricity in the structures surrounding him flickered and died. Around him, glass twinkled as it hit the ground.

"Great," the older hedgehog mumbled, "that glass is gonna cost me some points."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did reality start to waver around him, a young voice seeming to come from the sky. "Simulation terminated. Prepare for evaluation from the Wise One."

The sky started to melt, disappearing to reveal thick metal paneling covered in small mirrors at steady intervals. The pavement dissolved into smooth metal, not too slick or rough. The people still lying on the ground evaporated into mist, leaving nothing behind. The sounds of the city disappeared, making Sonic's ears ring. His eyes struggled to grasp something real, and he yanked the green sunglasses resting on his nose away.

"What gives Tails?" He demanded towards a small observation window about thirty feet above him and to the left. His younger counterpart had continued to roll as reality shifted and melted and he smacked right into the wall. Grumbling to himself, he sat up, wrenching a pair of black sunglasses off of his face. "We weren't even halfway through that simulation!" The older hedgehog continued to rant. "What about our big robot fight?"

Slowly, a thick door cranked open in front of the hedgehogs, and the fox in question marched into the room, tapping something into his Miles Electric, his younger self following him like a shadow. "_This_ is why." The fox practically spat, shoving the small yellow computer into Sonic's face. The hedgehog struggled to take in the image with the pixels so close to his face. "That is citizen number 5A11Y5QU18L, also known as Sally. You impaled her with a piece of glass the size of your head."

"To be fair," the hedgehog began, finally getting a good luck at the picture on the screen. He winced away from the blood. "Gravity impaled her. I just gave it a projectile."

Tails growled under his breath, hands tightening around the Miles Electric. "What if you had _really_ been running through Station Square?" He practically yelled. "You know better than to detonate explosives inside city limits! This isn't a _game_, Sonic!"

"But, if it _were_ a game…" Sonic trailed off, seeing the look on Tails' face. "What? I was just gonna say that there would be some really cool music in the background." Seeing the flat looks on everyone around him, he sighed. "Look-"

"_Look_, I'm sorry, Tails," the smaller hedgehog cut in, stepping in front of his older self. "I knocked out some glass too."

"Yeah, you did," Mini-Tails confirmed, consulting the small, miniature handheld computer he had, "but you didn't hit anyone."

"So, blowing out windows is okay when you don't hit someone?" The older hedgehog demanded, his inner sense of right and wrong going off. "This is so not fair."

"It's plenty fair," the older fox argued back, pulling up a graph on his computer. He forced his best friend to look at it by grabbing the hedgehog by the chin and yanking his head downward toward it. "Look at this. It's a graph that shows how many citizens have been accidentally killed in the past week of simulations. You see the trend? I do."

Sonic gulped low in his throat. Every day of the past seven days had two bars, a green one for him and a black one for the other-him. The green bars were noticeably larger than the almost non-existent black bars.

"You have some skill at killing people without meaning too. Either you're getting sloppy," Tails continued, searching Sonic's face for signs of comprehension, "cocky, unlucky, or a combination of the three. Whatever it is, it needs to stop. What are you gonna do if Eggman attacks Station Square? Take the chance that a missile might almost kill the younger-you and you react irrationally?"

Sonic shook his head, biting his lip. "It won't happen."

"Sonic," Tails took a deep breath, "it _might_ happen. Every single one of these simulations is constructed with the odds factored in. Missiles hitting your younger self is a possibility, and we all just saw how you reacted. You put innocent people – _civilians_ – at risk to save yourself."

"Yeah, but-"

"It's almost like you don't trust him." He gestured at the now slightly green smaller hedgehog. Little Sonic was having a hard time contemplating hurting dozens of citizens to save just one person. It didn't compute in his mind. "He can take care of himself. You should know."

"Yes, Tails, I realize that he can take care of himself. He's _me. _I _was_ him at one point in time, and look; I'm still alive!" Sonic waved his arms as he spoke, wielding his green glasses like a flag.

"Then why did you feel the need to come rushing to the rescue? Hm?" Tails' face was vague, an unreadable expression. With a flourish, his fingers danced across the screen of his Miles Electric. He held up the screen as Sonic started to speak.

"The missiles were going right _for_ him, Tails." The hedgehog seemed to be pleading now. "Did you expect me to just sit there and let him di-?" He trailed off as he got a look at the image on the computer.

It was a light blue ball, blurry from the speed it was rolling at. Yet, distinctive features were easily noticeable. A head, slightly angled away from the ground, two feet, straighter than they were supposed to be in a roll, and two hands, pressed against the ground, as if to push their owner into the sky.

"I was going to handstand and kick the missiles into the air," the smaller hedgehog pictured on the screen spoke, coming up behind his older counterpart. "The kick back from the missiles would have flipped me onto my feet. Then, it was an easy jog out of the city."

_The missiles following… _Sonic stared at the capture in contemplative silence, regretting his hasty actions. He opened his mouth to speak, but Tails cut him off.

"No matter how much you act like an idiot, you know more about physics than anyone I know, myself excluded." He rubbed his younger self on the head, eliciting a giggle from the small fox. "So, explain to me why you didn't give little you a chance to save himself."

Sonic sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "It's not that simple. It's just… I saw… _myself_…"

_Robotnik's shocked face. Running. Flames licking at his heels. Darting. Smothering heat. Dashing. Sound disappearing as the oxygen was eaten by the blaze. Jumping off the side without any Emeralds. Falling. Praying to Chaos that Tails would somehow catch him._

"Explosives…" Sonic's voice broke.

"_So-i-! Wi-s! Explo-on! Run! Yak-r sa-" Voice cutting off. Running. Jumping. Avoid. Stay ahead of sucking force. Running. Praying to Chaos. _

He shuddered.

"Bad memories." The younger hedgehog agreed grimly, his face as readable as a book.

All four stood in an awkward silence after that, the unspoken conversation passing between them making the air seem thick. After a few seconds and a solid stare between green and black eyes, the two hedgehogs nodded.

"Tails," they said together, looking toward their respective little brother. "Give me your best shot."

The foxes ogled with wide eyes towards their hedgehog friends before evil smiles broke their shocked expressions. Sharing a diabolical look, they turned and rushed toward the door, making sure to seal the two speedsters inside.

The lights flickered before darkening completely. Slowly, a new location stared to stitch itself together around the hedgehogs.

"So, what you say, me?" The older male asked, slipping his green sunglasses over his eyes. "Shall we kick some bad guy ass?"

"Yes, I think we shall." The younger answered, black glasses appearing on his face. "Though, I bet I'll kick more butt than you."

"Oh, you're _on_, little man," the other yelled over the howling wind now filling the room. "Loser makes dinner! Keep track, Tails!"

"_Begin Simulation_."

* * *

><p><em>Despite how many times I have typed the word "missiles," I still can't spell it correctly. Thank goodness for spellcheck, or else you'd all have to decipher what exactly "missels" were. <em>

_Sonic and Sonic have to wear sunglasses in simulations because of some unsaid science thing. Do not question. Your brain will implode. (Yes, eye color does have to do with the shade of the lenses.)_

_The little memories that Sonic has… Yeah, let's see if you can guess what games they're from. (It's not that hard.) There's only two. Take a guess. If you're first, you might get a prize. _

_So, guys, I have a proposition for you. _

_With Generations so close to coming out, I bet a lot of you are looking for more stories to help you cope with the hype, amirite? Well, I just so happen to have one for you to read. What's this, Hikari plugging someone else's story on _her_ story? Blasphemy. _

_My best friend, _Yami-sama42, _wanted to start her own ficlet collection (though she'll be using the 100 Themes while I'm using the 50 Phrases), but she had no universe to set it in. I offered to let her use this one (Ya'know, what if Classic Sonic and Tails got stuck in the future, dealio.). Of course, she knew better than to look a gift horse in the mouth and she accepted. So, I implore you to go check out her story _Generation Genesis_ and give it a read. She's dealing in the same universe, and we bounce ideas off each other, so there shouldn't be any major differences between the two. :D _

_There's a link to her story on my profile, along with a poll that I would like you to vote in. _

_(Please note that my little universe here is not public domain. If you would like to use it, please ask me first. c; Thanks.)_

_Review please? _


	11. You Could Get Us Both Killed!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"You could get us both killed!"

* * *

><p><strong>Mini-Disclaimer: <strong>Since this is number 11 (over one fifth of the way done!), I have decided to renew my disclaimer, especially since this ficlet needs some explaining. Please remember that the majority of this story is mainly made up of theories concocted in my brain. These theories do not reflect the views of SEGA or its affiliates and I claim only the prose and the theories behind it. The major plot line of _Sonic Generations_, all of the characters, and all of the places belong to SEGA.

**Notes:** This one takes place during _Generations_, more specifically during a scene in _Sonic Colors_. Please keep in mind that I am seriously twisting reality with this story as it is, and have done the same with the scene in question. It is now longer, and it's different than the original (which was kinda a letdown anyway). Let's just pretend that since it's in the past, it can be manipulated, kay?

* * *

><p>Sonic wasn't sure how he got where he was.<p>

He was staring down at his little brother, a beam of purple energy snaking its way into the fox's back. Eggman was laughing, gloating about how he had control over his best friend, and there would be no stopping him now. But, all Sonic could see was Tails, being made to do things against his will. He could see the fire in the fox's eyes, his will pushing against the controlling influence of Eggman's machine. The hedgehog tried to zip past the fox and attack the doctor's mech, intending to spindash into the precious mechanics. But, Tails was just as fast, blocking his path.

Suddenly, Sonic was struck by how much the fox had been holding back these past few years. He was _fast_. Not as fast as Sonic, but fast enough that he could take on anything. Yet, he chose to sit in a Workshop, tinkering away at something, or fight from a plane. The kit's namesakes were lashing harshly behind him, showing his agitation, and his hands curled toward him in what the hedgehog believed was supposed to be an intimidating gesture, clawing at the air between him and the blue speedster.

Sonic attempted to make another pass toward the floating machine, but Tails cut him off again, growling something under his breath. His speech was slurred, forced through unresponsive vocal chords.

"Past… danger… connection…"

Sonic didn't have much time to process this before Eggman started to rant again, this time about the superiority of his brain over the hedgehog's small Mobian one. He crowned like a rooster over his achievements: capturing the Wisps, harvesting their power, using it to control the weak mind of his friend.

However, Sonic wasn't listening; he was focusing on Tails' moving lips. The thirteen year old was mumbling something, attempting to tell Sonic what was going on in his head despite the foreign power forcing him to face off against the hedgehog. The blue one's eyes narrowed, his mind quickly deciphering the fox's message.

Nodding his head grimly, he looked up at his overweight foe, interrupting his rant.

"Look Eggy," he yelled, attempting to sound cheerful despite his anger, "in about fifteen seconds, I'm going to have control of your machine and my best friend back. I hope you enjoyed this few seconds of success, because it's not happenin' again." Then, before Eggman could come up with a clever response, he tackled Tails to the ground, pressing his fingers into the pressure point in his shoulder blade, knocking him out cold.

o0o

Approximately two planets away, on Planet Wisp, the opposite occurred. A small golden form bodily jumped a blue spiky figure. They rolled along the ground, both grunting and swiping superficially toward extremities, neither trying to hurt the other. Slamming into a sheer rock wall, the fox leaped off his friend, flipping through the air with more agility than the hedgehog thought he possessed, and landed on his feet, baring small canine teeth toward his friend.

"Tails," ten year old Sonic gasped, pressing a hand into his chest, right over his heart, "what're you doing, kiddo?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog," the little one replied in a monotone, "Tails is no longer in control. I am Eggman."

"_What._" Sonic hissed, darting to his feet so quickly, there was hardly a blur. "_Robotnik_? !"

"_Ah._" The fox laughed, crossing his arms. "So I was correct. You _are_ connected with your past selves. I'm in control of the smaller fox." He paused, smiling evilly. "Interesting."

"Get out of his head, Robotnik!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, little one." Sonic's quills bristled at the wheedling tone. "For you see, your older self has jammed my mind control ray and it is aimed at the older self of the one I currently control. I cannot pull out of his mind even if I wanted to." Tails' voice paused, his face twisting into a sneer. "You are very rude when angry, hedgehog." He barked, though Sonic could tell that the remark wasn't directed at him. Well, itwasn't directed at _him_ per se, but toward the future him. "Can't you tell that I'm having a civilized conversation with someone?" Tails paused. "Ugh. Do we really need to bring parentage into this, you blue rat?"

Sonic took the opening presented to him, smoothly running forward and sweeping Tails' feet out from under him with a quick swipe of his legs. The fox hit the ground roughly, and the speedster flinched.

"C'mon Tails!" He urged, finally getting a good look at his little brother's dark eyes. They were clear and sparking, like the real owner of the body was fighting against the control of the evil doctor. "Fight him! I know you can hear me!"

"You are mistaken, Sonic the Hedgehog." Tails' voice spoke again, this time seemingly without the doctor's direct input. He slowly got back to his feet, his fall unaffecting his physical ability. "Tails is no longer here. He is locked away in the recesses of his undeveloped mind, never to find his way out."

The fox snapped his fingers, and a bomb started to assemble out of nowhere. Sonic took a few steps back, his memory snapping back to their visit to Cocoa Island. Tails had put those gloves on in his old house… Bombs that detonated against metal, not organic material… (*)

The hedgehog sent up silent thanks to Chaos for Tails' brain.

Instead of brazenly going up to the vulpine and yanking the bomb out of his hand, Sonic continued to trip backwards in faux fear. "T-Tails!" He gasped, sensing the smirk on the kitsune's face before he saw it. "What are you doing? ! You could get us both killed!"

"So be it Sonic." The personality was back into the voice. Robotnik was back into active control. "Any last words?"

Sonic opened his mouth to make a smart remark, but, suddenly, Tails crumbled to the ground, the bomb rolling out of his hand. The button wasn't compressed, but Sonic didn't take any chances. Scooping up the explosive with his foot, he kicked it off the cliff, watching it disappear into the seemingly endless abyss. Once it was gone, he darted to his best friend's side, hovering over him anxiously.

Tense moments passed before Tails opened his eyes, blinking against the bright sunlight. "S-Sonic? What happened?"

o0o

Back on the first planet, the older Sonic was bouncing off of Eggman's Egg-O-Matic like a pinball off a bumper. His quills ripped through the mecha's outer casing, tearing apart wiring and sending oil and bolts flying in different directions like fireworks. He slammed into the Wisp-Generator powering the mind control, setting all of the aliens free and shutting off the problem with one well placed homing attack. Landing squarely right in front of the doctor, he smashed his hands, opened palmed, into the windshield, leaning in toward his foe.

"Touch Tails again, and I will end you." The threat was said in a calculated tone, but the sincerity was not lost in translation. Turning on his heel, the hedgehog jumped and landed right beside his friend. He bent down and picked up the fox, cradling his head.

Then, without a look back, he sped off.

* * *

><p><strong>(*) Refer to ficlet number 8 if this line confused you.<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Yay for confusion! <em>

_Since this one was so short, I have decided to give you another deleted scene. Aren't I nice? _

o0o

Classic Sonic sat at the computer, surfing the web out of boredom. "I don't see the appeal…"

"Of what, Lil'me?" Modern Sonic asked, walking into the room with his hands laced behind his head.

"Shadow…" Classic answered, clicking on a small thumbnail. A full blown battle shot of the hedgehog exploded across the screen of the computer. "He's just so…"

"Angsty?" Modern asked, patting the smaller on the head. "Yeah, I don't understand either."

"You cannot comprehend my appeal to the masses, Faker Jr.," Shadow suddenly appeared in the room in a crack of Chaos Control, "because you are too thick headed to see how undeniably handsome I am." He cracked a smile, puffing out his chest. "All the ladies love this chest fur."

"How did you get in here?" Classic asked, his face flat, at the same time that Modern yelled,

"CHEST FUR MEANS NOTHING!" He leapt on the other, smashing his _ultimate_ face into the floor. "Take it back!"

"Never!" Shadow yelled back, teleporting himself out from under the crazy blue hedgehog. "I will not take back something that is true!" He slammed his fist into Sonic's backbone, sending the hedgehog stumbling forward.

While a full out brawl commenced, Classic went back to his photo search. "I still don't get it…" He mumbled as an explosion erupted behind him, casting a weird glow over the screen.

o0o

_My attempt at humor fails. All of my attempts to humor always fail. Why do I keep trying?_

_OMG. I have the demo of _Sonic Generations _on the Xbox with both the Classic and Modern levels and… Oh my gawd. I fell in love. I was glued to the TV for about an hour playing the same two levels over and over again. _

_Anyway, you should review the main ficlet. Yes, yes, this sounds like a good idea. _

_Please? _


	12. It's Part of the Thrill

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"It's part of the thrill."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Let's experiment some, shall we Sonic?

* * *

><p>The proximity was suffocating, making his heart speed up and his lungs struggle to pull in oxygen. He gasped, short shallow breaths making his chest bump against the one pressing him to the wall. The other's red eyes stared down at him, unreadable in the light. The cold tip of the gun in his right hand pressed against Sonic's ear, making him shiver.<p>

"Shadow," he gasped, attempting to back away from the other hedgehog. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Attempting to figure something out." He answered, racking his eyes along Sonic's form. His gun pulled away from his ear, grazing Sonic's temple. The blue hedgehog twitched. "What I don't understand –" Shadow began, tapping the tip of the firearm to his lips. Sonic gulped. "– is how you do what you do. You would understand why I hate you so much if you could comprehend my frustration with you."

Sonic cracked a grin, hands fisting at his sides. "Hatred is a crime of passion."

Suddenly, the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. Shadow hooded his eyes against the accusation, leaning in toward the other hedgehog. His breath tickled Sonic's nose, making him wrinkle it out of instinct. "You say that like it's a good thing…" He trailed off, staring into the green depths of Sonic's eyes. His fingers uncurled from around the gun, and it clattered to the ground. Without looking, Sonic kicked it away. Shadow placed his hands, palm down, on the wall, and leaned in toward the other.

"I don't understand…" The dark hedgehog began again, eyes traveling up and down Sonic's form once more. "You have the physique of a normal Mobian… Yet, your spirit… It _radiates_ from you like a fire. It draws me in, even when I want to stay away."

Sonic smiled once again, stare not wavering from Shadow's face. "You're the same way –" he whispered, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. His fingers twitched, like they wanted to grab onto something. "– except your spirit pushes away."

"Then why do you constantly get closer, despite everything inside of you telling you to stay away?" Shadow's eyes were stormy.

The blue hedgehog chuckled, fisting his hands into the fur on Shadow's chest, pulling him even closer. "It's part of the thrill." Then, he closed his eyes, his last picture of the world taken up by Shadow's slowly enlarging face.

"Okay, okay!" Like a needle scratching across a record, the situation diffused, black and blue hedgehogs bolting away from each other. "You win!" The voice was high pitched and young, with a slight lilting accent. "I can't believe you did that…"

Shadow stalked away, rubbing at his mouth and shaking his head, like he couldn't believe what he had just been a part of. Meanwhile, Sonic grinned down at his younger self, patting him on the head.

"Hey," he admonished, smirking toward the diminutive hedgehog. "You asked for it. Really, you shouldn't have asked what _yaoi_ was."

"I didn't think you'd give me a _demonstration_."

"Tsk, tsk." Macro-Sonic clucked his tongue. "You should know better, li'l me. I'm very literal."

"Yes, we all know how _literal_ you are, faker." The gruff voice of Shadow sounded seconds before the black hedgehog came back into the room. "Now, would you like to give me the Emerald you promised, or will I have to shoot you to get it out of you?"

"…If you shoot me, then I won't be able to tell you where it is…"

"I never said that the shot would be _fatal_. I'm sure a good bullet-to-the-foot would get the location right out of you."

Sonic's face went green and he wasted no time zipping out of the room. The smaller hedgehog slowly edged away from the black artificial creation, subtly putting space between the two of them.

They stood in silence after that, listening as crashing sounds came from the direction of the twenty-year-old's room. The small hedgehog was just starting to question how you could lose a _Chaos Emerald_, when Shadow spoke suddenly.

"Remind me again when you're going back to your own time." The request knocked Mini-Sonic off guard that he simply stared at Shadow for a few seconds before finally finding his voice.

"Um… Tails is working on a machine, but he says that he'll need all seven Emeralds for it to work…" He trailed off, his eyes widening. "Wait, but you're taking one! We won't be able to get back if you take one!"

"Calm yourself, faker junior." Shadow soothed, crossing his arms. "I will bring it back when it is needed. One of you is more than enough for me to handle on a daily basis. Two of you is unbearable."

"Oh, that's good… I guess." Sonic seemed to be at a loss for words.

Silence reigned once again. Sonic stared down at his shoes while Shadow made himself comfortable at the table, fingering the cards resting on the wood. The game was unfinished, no doubt abandoned days ago by one of the four occupants living in the Workshop. With a sigh, he grabbed a card off the top of the pile, staring at it with a furrowed brow before placing it on top of a red queen, revealing it to be a black jack.

Shadow was almost finished with the game by the time the larger blue hedgehog returned. He handed a glowing yellow gem to Shadow, watching as the dark Mobian secured it in his quills.

"You take care of that thing." Sonic ordered, looking not at Shadow but at his younger self. The little hedgehog was staring at the Emerald, his eyes sparking a green color as they reacted to the Chaos Energy now bouncing around the room. "We're gonna need it later."

"I have already discussed this with you Sonic," Shadow replied with a smug smile on his face. His omission sent the larger hedgehog into a state of confusion, if the look his face fell into was anything to go on.

"Wha…?"

"He means me." The diminutive Sonic cut across, forcing realization onto the twenty year old's features. "He talked to me about it."

The other speedster opened his mouth to reply, probably with a pointed remark, but Shadow interrupted him, scooping his gun off of the ground as he spoke.

"Now that I have what I came for, I'm getting out of here before you make me do something that I'll regret." Then, with that, he was gone in a crack of Chaos Energy.

Both of the Sonics stood in the hush, soaking up the residual Energy. It filled the room, making both of their eyes seem brighter and their quills turn almost-gold color in the sunlight streaming in from the window.

Soon enough, however, it was gone, and the small hedgehog turned to his older counterpart.

"'_It's part of the thrill_,' really? You couldn't be more creative than that?"

"Hey!" The older hedgehog retorted, voice offended. "It was the heat of the moment! Let's see you do better!"

The look the little blue one sent the adult a flat. "Obviously, I can't. You're me, remember?" He paused, shaking his head. "You disgrace me."

"Oh, that's it, little man!" Then, without hesitation, he grabbed the young one around the waist, hoisted him over his shoulder, before dragging him out of the house and setting him on the ground. "Race around the Ruins."

"Fine." Sonic smirked toward his older counterpart. "Let's see if you can run with the _shame_ of that awful statement hanging off your back, thrill-seeker."

"Oho! I see how it is!" Getting into a three point stance, the older Sonic narrowed his eyes. "Readygo!" The call was said without preamble or pause, and he took off before the other could comprehend the words.

"Oh, now that's just cheating!"

The sonic booms were tied, just like the outcome of the race was destined to be.

* * *

><p><em>Had you going there, didn't I? Sonadow… a concept that I hate, but I couldn't pass up the joke. COULDN'T DO IT. <em>

_What's this? _Plot_? There's plot in there? Psh, you're seeing things. _

_**TO DanceDream:**_ Get an account so I can reply to you privately? Please? :3 Also, you can totally draw whatever you want. If my story inspires, then go for it! Just, somehow send me a copy or a link or something? I would like to see. XD

_Review please?_


	13. You Didn't Really Believe That, Did You?

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"You didn't really believe that, did you?"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: SPOILERS FOR THE END OF GENERATIONS! <strong>You have been warned. (Well, actually, not really. It doesn't say anything about what exactly the Time Eater is or anything major. Just that they make it back to the picnic party and the Classics go back to the past in a Time Hole. Surprise! Now you can read it.)

I'm posting this one now because as we all know, GENERATIONS COMES OUT TUESDAY! and I probably won't be able to (_see: not want to_) update next Saturday, so I'm putting It up now. Also, it illustrates how exactly Classic Sonic and Tails ended up in this situation in the first place, and I want to get that out before the general public that hasn't seen the leaked cut scenes is tainted by the awesome plot of Generations.

Written while listening to the new remix of Super Sonic Racing, and both of the Classic and Modern remixes of Rooftop Run.

* * *

><p>"I don't get it." Sonic mumbled, leaning against a wall and squinting at another hedgehog laying on the couch in their living room. "He looks so… <em>normal<em>."

"Yeah, well," Knuckles replied, bending down so his eyes were even with the little speedster's, "everyone looks normal before they do something amazing." Sonic sent the echidna a flat look, and Knuckles quickly amended, "Well, most normal people look normal before they do something amazing…" He trailed off, his brow furrowing. "Uh, that didn't make sense."

"No, it didn't." Sonic leaned forward off of the wall, bending so he was pressed against the corner. "But, I understand what you're getting at." He paused, his black eyes wide and inquisitive. "Can he really lift stuff with his mind?"

Knuckles scowled, the harsh expression cutting through and replacing a confused one. His gazed was pointed toward where the metallic hued hedgehog – brilliantly named Silver – was laying. "Yes." The answer was short and crisp, but there was an underlying tone of anger. "He can. And he's very stuck up about it."

Sonic shivered, ignoring the way Knuckles seemed to be glaring holes through the quills sticking over the couch. He didn't really know the other hedgehog that well; he had only met him two times. The first when he had been traveling through the future with his future self, and he had barely gotten a glimpse at the metallic hedgehog as he _flew_ by, chasing his older self and throwing cars at him. The first impression hadn't been the greatest. The second when they popped back into the future Sonic's present, a twentieth birthday party in honor of his older self. Silver had rematerialized with the rest of their friends, despite living two hundred years _before_ the party even happened.

The party had been fun, and their friends had sung Happy Birthday twice, once for him and once for his older self, even though he was _already_ ten and was actually closer to eleven. (Time travel, confusing concept.) There had been races, both in the air and on the ground, more chili dogs than he could possibly eat, playful insults passed around, and a cake with his face on it. The party had been awesome, but it was cut short when a small Time Hole appeared a few yards away from the main festivities. Sonic had been in the middle of a conversation with his future self when it had materialized, showing off an image of Green Hill Zone. He was antsy to get back to his own time and his home on South Island, but he still couldn't help but feel his heart tug him toward staying in the future with his green-eyed self. The older him _knew_ what he was going through, _would_ go through, and he didn't want to give up the chance to stand beside someone who understood him on that level.

However, he knew that he had to go back. There were people that needed him in the past and he couldn't let them down. So, it was with a heavy heart that he high-fived his older self and jogged toward the Time Hole, his little four year old brother flying behind him.

But, when he had leapt to jump through the hole, it closed in front of him, and he just soared through the air for a few feet before landing on his face.

The party had careened to a halt, every one of Sonic's friends staring at him as he laid with his face stuck in the dirt. The older Tails wasted no time rushing up to his younger self and helping him to his feet, analyzing the child with his trained eye before grabbing the speedster by the arm and yanking him to his feet as well, staring him in the eye and categorizing his injuries. Both were relatively injury free, only a few superficial injuries from their trip through time showing through their fur, but their eyes told a different story. Both were quick thinkers and they wasted no time putting two and two together.

They were stuck in the future.

It had been a hard concept for them to consider, but now that they had lived in the future for about a month, it was a way of life. They were used to hiding from the press, concealing their identities when they went outside of the Mystic Ruins, because they had yet to explain to the general public exactly _why_ there were two Sonics and two Tailses. Life was simpler now, surprisingly, because Sonic didn't have to worry about where his next meal was coming from or if he would have enough money to buy Tails a new pair of gloves when he outgrew the ones he had. His older self took care of everything. He could just relax and enjoy the little things like playing a board game with Tails, running around the Ruins at night, or joking around with the older Sonic.

That was, until Silver had shown up again.

The last time Sonic had seen the metallic hedgehog was when he had been begging Blaze to come back to the future with him. The purple cat had apparently grown up with the hedgehog, but was really a princess from another dimension almost exactly like this one, and she had somehow ended up showing up just in time for Sonic's twentieth birthday party… And, he really didn't know where the heck she was from. All that he knew was that she refused to go back to the future with Silver because of some 'ancient duty' she had to take care of (she sounded uncannily like Knuckles when she spoke like that) and she couldn't go running off back to her old life when people needed her, no matter how much she wanted to.

Needless to say, Silver had been upset, and he had stormed off with a flash of blue, back to his own time. None of them had seen or heard from him since then, until about an hour and a half ago.

The metallic hued hedgehog was currently laying on the couch in the living room, knocked out cold. Sonic had been in the middle of a training session with his older self in Tails' simulator when the time-traveler had just popped in with a crack of blue and a wash of Chaos Energy. Unfortunately, Silver had chosen to appear at the wrong time, right in the path of the bigger Sonic's foot as he swung it up to hit a badnik. He had been cracked across the skull and had hit the ground like a ton of bricks.

Pandemonium had struck. Tails had cut off the simulation, rushing into the room and running probing hands over Silver's skull, his younger incarnation following him like a shadow. The larger Sonic had stood in shock, staring down at his foot. The younger had an amused look on his face, even as Tails declared that he might possibly have a concussion.

After that, three of them, Sonic, Sonic, and the older Tails had carried the comatose hedgehog up the basement stairs and into the living room, the smaller of the fox kits darting in front of them to open doors and clear the path. Knuckles had been laid out on the couch, watching TV, but one look at the passed out Silver and he was scrambling away, fighting to hide the bemused look on his face.

Knuckles didn't like Silver, that much was obvious to the younger Sonic as he had sat with him at the kitchen table afterwards, the foxes back down in the basement with his older self. The echidna had kept mumbling under his breath and shooting glares toward the living room, where the time-traveler was still gone on the sofa.

"But, if he's so powerful," Sonic continued, inching away from the seething red Mobian, "why does he keep coming back here looking for Soni- I mean - my help?"

Knuckles paused in his glower, mulling over the younger hedgehog's question. "He thinks that you're the only savior in the history of time." Came his eventual answer, said with a calculating edge. "He needs to make sure that you're still alive or else he thinks the future will come crumbling down."

"But… That doesn't make sense." The hedgehog muttered, troubled. "I can't effect what happens two hundred years from now."

It was Knuckles' turn to give a flat look. "You don't really believe that, do you? Your actions… In fact, that actions of everyone _associated_ with you effects the future." He paused, searching the little hedgehog's face. "Do you remember that tapestry in the Emerald chamber, the one with a gold figure that looked like you?"

"Well, duh." At first, Sonic had been a little freaked by that mural, but now he thought it was kind of cool. "How could I forget?"

"Has it every occurred to you that my people may have been depicting you as the _evil_ being?"

Sonic was floored. _Him?_ _Evil?_ His eyes widened and he stumbled back a few feet. "B-but… No, that's not possible."

"It's possible, but not very likely." Knuckles amended, a little troubled at having startled the little hedgehog. He hadn't meant to _scare_ Sonic. "That's just one of the theories I managed to think up when I was young and staring at the mural." He paused, his purple eyes searching the young face in front of him. "But that's just one way that _you_ could change the time stream. Something could happen. Eggman could kill Tails or someone close to you, and you might go off the deep end. You have the power to crush planets when you go Super."

The statement was said so precisely and with so much assurance that the diminutive Sonic couldn't argue, and he visibly deflated. "I would _never_…" He trailed off, unsure. "I _couldn't_…"

"Oh, you can." A new voice, slightly lower and with a strange tint to it interrupted Sonic and both he and Knuckles whipped their heads to face the newcomer. "And you might."

Silver stepped into the kitchen, one hand on his hip and the other cradling his head. Immediately, Knuckles stiffened and he placed himself strategically between Silver and Sonic. Say what you wanted about his gullibility, but Knuckles couldn't shake the bad feeling he got when Silver came near the younger Sonic, and he felt the urge to protect the little hedgehog. "What do you mean, he _might_?" The echidna all but spat.

"The future isn't set in stone," the metallic colored hedgehog answered truthfully. "It can change at any time. Certain events have to happen for Sonic to go Dark. And this situation here, being stuck in the future and not returning to his own time, that's one of them."

"Well, if you're so sure, then why don't you change it?" Knuckles growled, striding up to the other and glaring straight into his eyes.

"Why do you think I'm here? So I can get kicked in the head?"

"I could care less about your motives." Knuckles answered back, turning around and starting to herd the small hedgehog out of the room. "What matters is that you are upsetting the equilibrium of the Chaos Energies. The Master is unbalanced today, when it was fine yesterday." Finally managing to push Sonic out of the room, he ushered the hedgehog toward the basement stairs. "Go get the other Sonic and tell him that your _guest_ is awake." He told the little speedster. "I need to go find a Chaos Emerald to stabilize the Master Emerald." He looked frazzled and at high alert now that he had spoken to Silver.

"Uh, okay."

"And, Sonic," Knuckles added right as Sonic was about to open the door, "don't listen to anything Silver has to say. You may make some stupid mistakes sometimes, but your heart is pure. Just remember that every choice you make has consequences." Then, he turned on his heel and sprinted toward the back door.

Sonic shook his head, grabbing the knob to the door and opening it. The sounds of an intense battle filtered up the stairs, making his heart speed up. He jogged down the steps and toward a small observation window before looking in. He froze at the scene in front of him. His older self was standing in the middle of a battle ground, robot parts strewn all around him. But, he was cradling a small human girl in his arms, the child shivering. He stared down at the girl with tender eyes and he stroked her back in an attempt to calm down her sobs.

"It's okay, little one." He murmured, just loud enough for his younger self to hear. "It'll be okay. I've got you." Then, holding her head so she was crying into his chest, he rushed off, jumping over robots and swerving around turrets.

"He gets two hundred extra points for saving the girl." Sonic heard the young voice of Tails say quietly from the control booth right above his head. "She was in the middle of the water, and he still risked himself to save her."

Sonic blinked at that and he nodded once in approval before dashing up to the control booth. Seconds later, the simulation was cut and the older Sonic was dashing up the stairs to see what Silver was trying to save the past from this time.

* * *

><p><em>Woah man, Knuckles has made a 180 from the bumbling fool I made him in the past few ficlets he was in. <em>

_Uuuurgh. This one… I dislike it, but I'm posting it because it needs to be over with. I've got something special in store for the next one. ;3_

_Please don't rant at me in your reviews about where Blaze is _actually_ from. It was supposed to be a joke playing off of SEGA's inability to give her a steady storyline. I repeat: DON'T TELL ME "Well, actually, I believe that Blaze is from this-and-such place." I HONESTLY DON'T CARE. _

_No. No plot. Nope. Not at all. _

_Review please?_


	14. I'm Not a Monster!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"I'm Not a Monster!"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> _Dear Sonic fans, I don't care if _Sonic Generations_ was "short" (what exactly constitutes a 'long' game?). It was amazing, so get your heads out of your butts and appreciate the fact that SEGA listened to your whining and gave you Classic Sonic back. Sincerely, Hikari. _

_P.S. If you want a 'long' game, go play _Sonic Unleashed_. Oh wait, the only reason it's long is because of the Night Stages. Unleashed only had nine Day Stages, while Generations has eighteen fully fledged levels. Not enough? Go play Sonic 1. Oh wait. Sonic 1 had six Zones with three Acts each. That's EIGHTEEN levels. Yeah, same amount. Quit complaining. It makes the rest of us look bad. _

Now that I've gotten that off of my chest, I hope you enjoy the chapter. It takes place during _Generations_.

* * *

><p>Sonic woke with a crusted film on his body and stiff joints. He was aching all over, and he was pretty sure that his left ankle was swollen, if the way it was throbbing was anything to go on. His head was sensitive to the touch, and the light of the setting sun stabbed into his green eyes, making him groan and force them shut. His right arm was pinned under his body, numb from lack of blood flow, and his quills were uncomfortably bent and stabbing into his back.<p>

"Okay," he grumbled through unresponsive vocal chords, coughing up dirt, "who's the idiot that threw me out of a spaceship _this_ time?"

"Same idiot as always," a young male voice answered, its owner ambling close to the hedgehog. Something soft and muscular brushed against the blue one's leg and he opened his eyes just in time to see two tails wrap themselves around his foot, yanking him toward the gold body of the speedster's best friend. The fox _tsk_ed under his breath, poking at the swollen ball that had once been his ankle.

Involuntarily, Sonic's hips bucked and he attempted to squirm away from the gentle, inquisitive fingers of the fox. Tails' namesakes were like coils of rope around his leg however, and all he got for his troubles was dirt lodged into his quills. Hissing between his teeth, Sonic glared at his little brother through the fog of pain now clouding his vision.

"I'll need to splint it," Tails finally said after what seemed like an eternity of probing the injury. "No running for at least a day."

Sonic groaned as Tails finally released his leg. The fox eased the appendage toward the ground, careful not to jar the hedgehog's ankle. "It looks like we're right outside of Apotos." Tails continued, his head swiveling around. "I'll need to go into town to get the proper supplies." So saying, the fox rose, standing with his back toward the quickly disappearing sun. "I should be back in about an hour. It'll be dark by then, but you can take care of yourself for that long, can't you?" Turning toward the hedgehog, he winked.

"Where are the Littles?" Sonic spoke through gritted teeth. His head felt like it was about to split in two.

"I dunno," Tails replied. "Don't worry," he continued, seeing the look on the hedgehog's face. "They can take care of themselves. I'm sure they're both running on the rooftops of Spagonia as we speak."

o0o

In fact, both the younger fox and hedgehog were currently floating _above_ Spagonia in a giant fortress, held against their will at gunpoint by two cheery looking Egg Fighters. Sonic's teeth were barred, ancient animal instincts surfacing as he snarled and stood in front of his four year-old charge, protecting him bodily. The Fighters paid no heed to the blue one's feral actions, simply raising their laser guns a little higher so they were even with the speedster's eyes.

"Ah, Sonic," a loud voice cooed, its overweight owner practically _bouncing_ into the room. "Already getting in tune with your animalistic side. How fitting, considering what your older self is no doubt experiencing!"

"What are you talkin' about, Robotnik? !" Sonic demanded, his hands fisting at his sides. Behind him, Tails attempted to hide his face in his namesakes.

"See for yourself, hedgehog!" The doctor declared, gesturing toward a large screen. It was slowly flickering to life, a blue figure materializing on it.

Despite himself, Sonic leaned toward the screen, staring at his older self.

o0o

Sonic laid on the ground for about fifteen seconds before he started to get antsy. He eased himself into a sitting position, facing the sliver of sunlight left. His hands fisted into the grass, yanking it out of the ground and holding it up toward the sky as if in offering. The wind swept the grass out of his hand and toward the horizon.

"Bored." He grumbled under his breath, watching the last piece of grass disappear. "Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored." Falling onto his back, he stared at the darkening sky, feeling his eyes starting to sink closed.

He knew better than to sleep when he was possibly concussed, but he couldn't help it. His ingrained instincts told him that if he had a second of downtime – forced or otherwise – he needed to take advantage of it.

He fell asleep. For how long, he had no idea, but he woke to a familiar pain in his midsection. It was a striking pain, and it overshadowed his throbbing ankle and aching head. He woke with a start, bending and pressing his hands over his belly, putting pressure on the phantom spasm. It spread quickly across his chest, making his heart speed up and his mind started to race, attempting to figure out what was happening.

His head snapped toward the horizon, and his eyes widened when no sunlight met them.

_No_… He thought to himself. _It's impossible._

Before this thought was completely across his mind, a dark shadowy energy started to form at his wrist, spreading along his body and covering his field of vision. His bones were ripped apart, reforming and lengthening, liquefying and solidifying in seconds. His fur was pulled longer, darkening in color as his nose lengthened. Claws ripped their way through his fingertips, shredding his gloves and his shoes stretched along with his feet, the superior material able to adapt. Sharp, carnivorous teeth sliced through thin omnivorous gums, sending jagged stabs of pain through Sonic's whole being. He didn't realize he was screaming until he lost his regular voice to the change, his vocal chords becoming more feral.

When the energy dissipated, Sonic the Hedgehog was gone.

All that was left was the Werehog.

o0o

Across a continent and back in the flying base, Sonic's younger doppelganger stumbled away from the screen, staring at the image in horror. He was unable to look away, despite how much he wanted too, and he nearly tripped over Tails in his haste to get away from the monitor. The kit squeaked and wrapped his hands around Sonic in an effort to comfort his shaking form.

"Ohohoho! Now you see, _Sonic!_" Doctor Eggman cackled, making the picture of the newly transformed Sonic enlarge. The younger hedgehog shuddered and he hugged Tails back, looking down at the fox to distract himself. "The moon changes you into a different being! It brings out the evil in your heart and transforms you into the ugly creature you truly are!" He threw his head back, laughing even louder. "You call me a monster, yet look at yourself! Look what you have to look forward to!"

Suddenly, Sonic's eyes hardened, his spine stiffening and his head snapping toward the evil man. A dark smile worked its way across his face, sending Eggman's sense of self preservation roaring to life. He started to back away slowly from the hedgehog.

Then, before the doctor could blink, Tails was in the air and Sonic was bouncing around the room, taking out every robot, the screen, and every hidden camera and switch. The door behind Eggman locked itself as a red light started to flash in the corner. When he landed, Sonic glared at the doctor with flashing _green_ eyes, his quills rising a little higher off of his head.

"That's where you're wrong, Robotnik." He growled out, walking purposely toward the scientist, his shoes crunching through broken glass. "_I'm_ not a monster! _You_ kill and enslave Mobians for your personal gain! _You _build robots and death machines to kill a ten year old child! _You_ don't see people as people; you see them as power sources! _You_ make me _sick_! And that's why I will give up _everything_ to stop you!" Now right in front of the towering human, Sonic commanded attention. He jabbed a finger at the empty wall where the monitor used to be. "What was on that screen, the transformed-me, that wasn't a monster; that was someone who will do _anything_ to stop you, even sacrifice himself." Now, he pointed up at Eggman. "What _you_ see in the mirror however, Robotnik, is the real monster."

Then, without preamble Sonic curled into a ball, spindashing and catapulting himself toward the nearest wall. He sliced right through it, sailing into the sky over Spagonia. Tails followed him, taking the time to stick his tongue out at Eggman as he passed. Swooping through the hole Sonic had created, he soared down and caught the hedgehog's hands right before he hit the ground.

"Thanks Tails!" Sonic called over the rushing wind, smiling up at the fox with twinkling black eyes and a small thumbs up. Then, he let go and dropped to a roll on the ground, pausing for just milliseconds to rev up another spindash. Sonic blasted in a southerly direction, heading straight to Apotos.

o0o

When the Werehog finally got a grasp on his surroundings, he began to growl quietly to himself, kneading his claws into the soft fertile ground. The wind licked at his fur, agitating him because it was free and moving and he wasn't. One of his legs was hurt; how exactly he didn't know, but he knew that walking on it sent jagged waves of pain up his leg. He was forced to lay in the grass like a lesser creature, attempting not to whimper.

He had been laying here for an eternity, staring at the slowly rising moon. The sky was darkening, stars barely visible through the cloudy skies. He grumbled in a low voice, rolling over onto his side in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain in his throbbing foot.

"Sonic! Sonic, where are you? C'mon man, I got the splint!" Sometime later, a voice appeared, followed shortly by a shuffling sound in the tall grasses. The being was clumsy, like he was carrying something large and heavy. "And some food! Where _are_ you? !"

Sonic sniffed, barely poking his nose out of the grass. The smell was familiar, comforting and threatening at the same time. It was another canine, yet someone he knew. If the way he knew this being was in a favorable light or not, he couldn't be sure.

The walking ceased, and the voice spoke again, closer than before. "I don't get it. He wouldn't try to run, would he?" The voice paused. Then it sighed. "Yes, he would." The being sounded tortured, like whoever he was looking for generally didn't listen to him. Slightly, Werehog felt his heart tug for the younger canine. "SONIC!"

The Werehog jumped, his fur standing on end at the sudden loud voice. A gasp sounded behind him and he growled low in his throat, standing as best he could now that his position had been given away. The other person was staring at him, his large blue eyes wide in shock.

"S-Sonic? ! Wha-? What happened? !"

Werehog had no idea who this _'Sonic_' was, but his mind still tugged him toward the other, now revealed to be a fox, like he knew what happened to 'Sonic'. He fought the urge to move closer to the fox by shaking his head and backing away, tail between his legs and his teeth barred.

Suddenly, the fox deflated, and he fell backward onto his backside, his head falling into his hands. "I should have known better…" He mumbled. "Time travel. Of course this would happen." His shoulders were hiked up to his ears. "I'm sorry, Sonic." He sniffled, making the Werehog's heart yank again.

Werehog had no idea who this pup was, but he felt like he owed him something, like he had some weight in the child. He slowly nosed his way toward the fox, taking his balled-up state as an unthreatening pose. He walked toward the other on all fours with only a slight limp, alert to any signs of a demeanor change in the other. The fox didn't seem aware that a larger predator was moving toward it, just kept his face hidden in his gloved hands. Once he was close enough, Werehog snuffled his nose into the kit's fur, taking a deep whiff.

Suddenly, memories broke through the wall in his mind. Apotos. Eggman. Emeralds. Time Eater. Running. Tails.

_Tails_.

"…Tails…" Forcing the word through uncooperative vocal chords, Werehog watched as the fox's head jerked up, almost colliding with his own.

"S-Sonic?" The golden one's blue eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

"… Yes… Li'l bro."

Tails let out a happy sound, wrapping his arms around Sonic's huge head, digging his face into the soft fur of his side. He let out a sigh, finally releasing his tears. "I'm sorry, Sonic. I didn't realize that traveling through time would place the Dark Gaia Energy back into you! I should have paid more attention. I mean, the continents are broken apart, even though the Apotos and Spagonia continents are back in place… I'm sorry."

Sonic grunted, shaking his head. "No." It was a simple word, but it conveyed everything Sonic needed to say and Tails smiled wetly before nodding once.

"Can I splint your ankle now?"

o0o

When the past incarnation of Sonic finally managed to find his older self and the older Tails, he was pleasantly surprised to find them both curled up in the tall grasses outside of Apotos, dead asleep. Tails was twitching in his sleep while Sonic was like a rock, no movement whatsoever. His body was large, dark, and less pointy, but Mini-Sonic could still see himself in the transformed hedgehog.

And, in the end, it wasn't the body that you traveled in; it was the journey you made in it.

With a happy smile, he curled up beside his older self, basking in the warmth he gave off. The four year old fox that had followed him all the way here snuggled up to his side and Sonic wrapped his arm around his little brother. The kit was out almost instantly.

Sonic laid there for a few more minutes, listening to the breathing of his now more beastly future self, and he couldn't help but smile.

He looked so kickass in that wolf-like form!

* * *

><p><em>The endings of these things always suck. I have no idea how or when to stop. <em>

_So, I have a(nother) proposition for you guys. If I were to record myself reading my ficlets, add commentary, and then post the videos on YouTube, would you watch them? Just to get an insider look into my mind and my writing process, or should I not even bother because none of you would want to listen to me blather on about 'Classic Sonic this' and 'Modern Tails that' and 'this says this because of this,' 'I chose to focus on this character here because' type stuff? Just a proposition. Think on it and get back to me?_

_Review please?_


	15. You Will Never Hit Me

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"You Will Never Hit Me!"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Okay, something I need to address. Classic Knuckles. He exists in this story because back in ficlet number nine, I put him into the story. So now I'm stuck with him, because I'm not one to change something I've done previously. So, yes, there's a Classic Knuckles in this. I don't care if he wasn't in Generations. He's in this. My story. My rules.

Halfway through this, I was filled with such a LOVE for the Sonic series that I had to stop and go express it in a bunch of squeals and squees. Then I watched the OVA. STRANGE ISN'T IT? !

* * *

><p>Knuckles loved Angel Island and its solitude. He enjoyed the way the silence seemed to ring around him, a pleasant toll that chimed everywhere he went. It was a lone note, that silence, but it was his kindred spirit, accompanying him wherever he went on the Island. It was his sole companion, only punctuated by the smallest of wing flaps from birds in Sky Sanctuary, icicle falling in Ice Cap, or leaf rustling in Mushroom Hill.<p>

He enjoyed living alone, being his own master. He was able to do whatever he wanted on the Island, from gorging on the grapes that grew year round in Sky Sanctuary to climbing up the sides of the ruins in Marble Garden, only he could dictate what he could and could not do. On the surface, there were _rules_ and _expectations_, but here, on Angel Island, he wasn't responsible for anyone except himself.

And that was how he liked it.

However, ever since being pulled back in time, he had been piggybacked with a younger version of himself. At first, he had been against the idea, hating the possibility of having to share Angel Island with someone else, but after about three days of living with the younger echidna on the Island, he had come to like to arrangement. The younger him was exactly what he wanted in a companion – nonintrusive and quiet – and it was a refreshing change to have him around, considering that Knuckles' regular company was loud and obnoxious.

Still, it was weird having someone always trudging around behind him, mumbling under his breath about 'tricky Eggheads and hedgehogs' all of the time. Knuckles had almost forgotten how vindictive and gullible he used to be, and it was a shock to him how much he had changed in only ten years. When he had been thirteen and he had first encountered Sonic, his outlook of the world had been narrow: everyone from the surface was evil and was trying to steal the Master Emerald. Everyone was suspect; no one was innocent. That had been his mantra. He was to protect the Master at all costs, because he was the only one that could.

Now though, he knew better. Almost everyone on the surface wanted nothing to do with the Master Emerald. In fact, no one even knew that the Master Emerald existed, except for a few choice people, and that was how he liked it. He could live in peace on his Island and not worry about a lunatic coming up here and attacking him.

"- then he says 'Oh hey Knuckles, why don't you show Tails the Master Emerald!' like the fox hasn't _seen_ the Master Emerald enough already! But, I'm a gullible idiot, so I showed him anyway. And, what happens? Sonic up and disappears _with the plane_ and I'm stuck with the kid! _For three days_! Three days! What was I supposed to do with a fox kit for thre-!"

Knuckles stopped suddenly, causing his younger self to cut off as he slammed into his back. The smaller echidna tumbled to the ground, cursing the whole time.

They were currently tromping through the dense forest of Angel Island Zone, checking the multitude of traps set about the trees. The sun was high in the sky, almost noontime, and they weren't even a quarter of the way finished. Call Knuckles what you wanted, but 'trusting' he wasn't.

"What's your problem? !" The small echidna demanded, rubbing his head. "I was walking there, you know."

"Yes, I know." Came the brusque answer as the older red Mobian grabbed the younger by the scruff of his neck and hauled him to his feet. "But you were also whining. The Guardian of Angel Island does not _whine_."

"I was _not_ whining. I was simply telling you a story."

Knuckles rolled his eyes, smirking as he turned to keep walking. "Don't try to lie to me. It won't work. I'm you." He shot a wink over his shoulder. "Besides, I know. Worst three days ever. Curious fox kit is worse than all of Eggman's Robots, put together. Ever."

"Ugh, don't even get me _started_ on Robotnik. That guy thinks he's _so_ smart with all of his robo-"

"Ssh!" Knuckles cut off his younger self once again, this time with a hiss and a raised hand. "I hear something."

The other echidna froze, his foot still slightly in the air. His ears strained, attempting to catch what his elder persona was hearing. Slowly, he eased his foot toward the ground, trying not to distract the other Mobian standing beside him.

However, his foot landed on a twig, snapping it right in half. The sound reverberated throughout the whole forest, upsetting some nearby feral birds, and scattering a few squirrels from their branches.

Seconds later, a concussive _boom_ answered the crack of wood, and a flash of blue sped by, cackling maniacally.

"You will never hit me!" The words were distorted, but there was no doubt in Knuckles' mind who the deep voice belonged to.

Nano-seconds passed before a second boom sounded from the opposite side of the forest, a lighter dash of cobalt zipping around them and following the crushed underbrush the other azure streak had left.

Knuckles blinked, shaking his head in an attempt to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "What was _that_?"

The older echidna's expression was flat and he sighed before answering. "I'll give you three hints. It's blue, there's two of it, and it's a pain in the ass."

Knuckles opened his mouth to reply, but a quiet _thwaping_ sound interrupted him, and he copied his elder self's sigh. "Where there's blue, there's always yellow…" He mumbled, looking up just in time to see two golden foxes fly overhead, weaving between the trees in a sort of aerial game of tag.

"Hey Knuckles!" The older called, a cheeky smile gracing his features. "Any chance you know where Sonic went?" Before the fox was finished, the older echidna had his arm up and he was pointing in the direction of the now smoldering plant matter. "Oh, thanks!" He made to fly off, but Knuckles stopped him.

"Woah, wait! What're you doing here? !" He yelled, attempting to be heard over the fox's spinning namesakes.

There was a pause, and Knuckles felt his heart drop into his shoes. "_Tails_…" He called warningly, his indigo eyes glinting harshly in the sunlight.

"The Sonics are having a paintball war!" The fox yelled out almost too quickly for Knuckles to catch.

Somehow, Knuckles ended up on his backside in the dirt, a shocked expression on his face. His younger self didn't look much better, if the way he was gaping like a fish was anything to go on.

"_What."_ They yelled together, heads snapping towards the foxes with murderous expressions.

"We'll see ya later, Knuckles! Bye!" The younger Tails called as the two almost identical kitsunes zipped off without warning, swerving around trees with ease.

"Wait, Tails!" The younger Knuckles yelled, racing after the retreating canines. "I can't believe this." He mumbled as he trudged back seconds later, having lost track of the flying forms in the thick tree-line.

The adult echidna groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. "Never any peace around here…" He grumbled, getting up and stalking off after the disappearing golden forms. His shoes crunched loudly on the trampled undergrowth. "I live on an Island floating in the sky, for Chaos sake! What about this place screams 'Idiot's Personal Playground'?"

"You're whining." The younger echidna offered helpfully, following his older self.

"Shut up."

* * *

><p><em>Tsk tsk Knuckles. Practice what you preach, or get off of the pulpit. :D<em>

_Due to popular demand, I've started commentary for this story. The first part is up on YouTube, and there's a link on my profile. Go watch it if you wish. _

_Despite how scared I am of failure, I entered this story into a contest on in an attempt to win a Generations Collector's Edition. Fingers crossed! _

_So, what you think? Did I characterize the different Knuckleses enough to make them different characters, or are they too similar?_

_Sorry this is late. I got distracted by _Sonic Generations_ (beat the Final Boss) and talking to my best friend on the phone. Didn't really bother writing. _

_That, and my first attempt at this prompt got deleted by my computer and the second attempt sucked. Don't believe me? Here's an excerpt: _

"You're a very smart, kid." The human began, pulling up a chair to the small table the fox was seated at. "What's your IQ; hundred and fifty, two hundred? Gotta say, smarts like that can go to your head, so to speak, especially since you haven't really had to work hard to know everything that you do."

Tails bristled, his fur puffing out of its own accord. "You have no idea what you're talking about," the kit hissed, leaning in toward the human, his eyes narrowed. "I am only four, yet I know every weakness of this room, from the pivot point of this table to the pathological claustrophobia you suffer from. Don't look so surprised," Tails grinned, leaning back, happy that he had grabbed the human's attention, "it's not hard to miss the way you angle yourself toward the door or how you keep glancing toward the two-way mirror in the wall there. By the way, who's back there – your captain? How does he feel, knowing that you're being outsmarted by a four year old – a Mobian at that?"

The man cursed, shoving away from the table once again. He fisted his hands into his hair, groaning.

Tails smirked, totally in control of the situation. "Face it, you're pointing a loaded gun at my head, but you only have false bravado to use as bullets; you'll never hit me." He propped his small, sneakered feet on the table, messing with his gloves. "It's quite sad really," he began, digging his right index finger into the cuff of is left glove. Then, without preamble, he pushed his feet off of the table, flipping over the back of the chair and yanking a micro-laser out of his glove in one smooth move. Easily, he pointed the laser at the head of the human, smirking at the red dot appeared on his forehead. "I'm afraid to say that you have failed your evaluation."

_Horrible. Awful. Tails is completely out of character and the dialogue sucks. This is why I started over. I like this version a lot better. _

_Review please? _


	16. Agh! That's Awful!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Agh! That's awful!"

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Okay, so what was it about the last chapter? Knuckles too manly for you people or something? I mean, if you didn't like it, at least tell me, would you?

This one was inspired by _Summer Wars_. Love that movie.

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><p>Sonic hated seeing any of his friends agitated, so when he happened across Tails, sitting in the dark one night, only the light of the computer screen in front of him illuminating the room, he felt his stomach drop. The fox was pounding his fingers into the desktop in front of him, one keystroke bleeding into the next, and his eyes were wide and unblinking, glaring at the 3D image in front of him. Sonic walked up quietly, glancing at the clock in the bottom right corner of the screen (2:53) out of habit before easing his line of sight away from the clock and towards the middle of the screen, focusing on the cause of his friend's anxiety. He felt his eyes widen without his consent.<p>

A small, two tailed being was standing in a white space, clutching a wooden staff in his hand and glaring down an egg-shaped… _thing_. The Egg-being was large, at least five times the size of the two-tail, yet the smaller creature seemed to command more respect, if the way other small individuals flocked around him, showering him with praises. Easily, he stalked forward, away from the group of admirers and swung his staff once before charging, a loud, almost-unnatural yell ripping out of his throat.

Sonic felt his eyes go wider still as Tails pounded even more harshly into the keyboard, almost cracking the fragile plastic casing. His concentration was absolute, and Sonic was sure that a train could have barreled through the house at that moment and his little brother would not have noticed. On the screen, the two-tail was bouncing around the Egg-thing with amazing agility, avoiding every swing the Egg took at him. He flipped over the Egg, swinging his staff down so it hit the foe in the face. Amazingly, the Egg stumbled backward, falling onto its side and rolling down an unseen hill. Tails was sweating now, his hands moving so fast Sonic could barely keep track of them. He blinked away tears of exhaustion, his jaw clenching.

"Tails…" Sonic spoke without realizing, making his brother jump and his hands to falter.

Just long enough for the evil Egg enemy to right itself and take a swing at Tails' character with a pudgy arm. The two-tail on the screen hit the ground hard and a small blinking messaged popped up not five milliseconds later. _K.O._

"Agh!" Tails yelled, like he himself had been physically hit. He slammed his hands down onto the keyboard, a groan escaping from his throat. "That's awful!" Spinning around in his chair, he turned a glare onto Sonic before pushing away from the desk and stalking across the room. Easily sliding a panel away from the wall, he smashed his fist onto a large red button, grimacing as a loud siren started to blare throughout the house and the electric lights flickered off to be replaced by energy saving red lights.

Sonic blinked. "Woah, Tails, what's going on? Why'd you set off the alarm? And, what were you playing?"

"_Playing_?" Tails' voice was almost-wild, and he glared at Sonic with a barely-veiled anger. "I wasn't _playing_ anything, Sonic! I was fighting a _virus_!"

If anything, Sonic looked every more dumbfounded. "…what…?"

The fox sighed, rubbing his temples and turning back to the exposed red button. With a sigh, he grabbed a small green cable and pulled it away from the central wiring. The siren fizzled away, letting quiet seep back into the house.

Seconds later, Tails was back at the computer, beckoning Sonic over with a jerk of his head. "Look," he commanded, pointing at the screen. "This here, this is the human social network called _OZ_. It is where they store all of their information and do most of their business." Sonic cocked his head to the side, studying the website. It wasn't that spectacular, from what he could tell. Just a white space with a giant floating fish-head like thing with a bunch of random colors. Small beings of every shape, animal type, and color floated around, disappearing up small blue tubes at short intervals. "For the past week, Eggman," at Sonic's sharp intake of breath, Tails nodded, "yes, Eggman, has been trying to take over OZ with a sophisticated avatar eating virus." Sighing at Sonic's confused expression, he elaborated.

"Avatars are an online persona. Each person has an account and each account has an avatar. Through OZ, you can link your avatar to anything you do, from your job to your local shopping center. So, once the virus eats the avatar, it gains control over that person's life. The virus is almost sentient and I've managed to fight it off almost every night through combat on OZ. The thing loves games, and the fighting is just a huge game to it. Now though, I lost, because _you_ distracted me and there's no telling how many accounts it has eaten already." Turning back to the screen, he shoved the plastic keyboard away from the desk; swiping his hand across the black, see through glass of the desktop and pulling up a virtual keyboard. His fingers worked quickly, a blue Command Prompt popping up without preamble. The fox slammed through at least twenty passwords in six seconds, bypassing one of the most sophisticated firewalls in the world, if the sheer amount of letters that went into each of those passwords was anything to go by.

Suddenly, he was in the script version of the website and the fox coughed low in his throat before hitting a few more keys. The letters filtered away to be replaced by ones and zeroes. Sonic bit back a groan. Binary code gave him a headache.

Unexpectedly, the door behind Sonic slammed open and the smaller Tails skidded into the room, zipping around Sonic and jumping into the rolling chair next to his older self. He swiped his own hand across the desktop in an almost exact duplication of the bigger fox and called up a keyboard. One of the thirty screens in front of him flickered to life and he went to work on the binary code as well, converting the multitudes of ones and zeroes into words.

"It's in the water mains." The older fox declared, highlighting a set of numbers and dragging them over to his younger self's computer screen. The other fox whimpered slightly, before hitting a few keys and commanding his computer to go back to the regular site. The image zoomed into the website, honing in on the Egg-being. He was playing with a giant number of water hoses, throwing them about like they were playthings.

The door behind Sonic opened again, and the hedgehog nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned sharply, laying eyes on the intruder and was awarded with the slack-jawed face of his younger self.

"…what is going on here?" The younger Sonic asked, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the two foxes. "First the alarm goes off, then it shuts off, then Tails runs off looking for… himself, and I get here and… What _is_ this?" He demanded, waving his hands toward the computer screens.

The larger hedgehog looked back and forth between the younger version of himself and the double foxes now arguing over whether they should engage the virus again or just attempt to hack into Eggman's servers directly, and he helpless shrugged before attempting to explain to his younger self what Tails had just told him.

Two minutes later, Mini-Sonic looked even more confused than when he had walked in. He blinked, watching as the golden foxes banged away at their keyboards, the inner workings Eggman's network displayed across the screens.

The older hedgehog sighed, rubbing at his temples. "I'm heading off to bed. This is one war where I'm not needed. Good luck Tails." And, with that, he spun around on his heel and disappeared toward his bedroom. His younger incarnation shook his head, dashing up behind his little brother and leaning in toward the computer monitor.

"How can I help?"

o0o

Four hours later, Sonic was shoving his feet into his shoes in the dark, getting ready to go on his morning run. He stretched happily, popping his back and standing fully. Shaking his hands to loosen the up, he started on his regular yoga-like stretch regimen, relaxing into the familiar routine.

That is, until the bedroom door opened slightly and a small form slipped into the room. That same little body flopped down onto the bed seconds later, curling into his side of the mattress with his tails wrapped around his body.

Sonic smiled, reaching over and pulling the covers over his little brother's sleeping form. The thirteen year old was worn out from his battle at the computer screen, but Sonic could tell from the carefree smile that graced his features that he had won his war. Running a hand through his charge's droopy bangs, Sonic smirked to himself before slithering out of the door, closing it with a barely audible _click_.

He took the stairs two at a time, as quietly as possible, trying to slip out of the house without anyone noticing. However, just as he was opening the front door, an almost silent voice coughed in an attempt to get his attention.

His quills bristled and he turned slowly, only to deflate once he saw who was stopping him.

"Oh, it's only you, lil' me."

"You going for a run?" The smaller Sonic asked instead of answering, nodding toward the still-open door. "Mind if I join?"

"Nah, 'course not."

They set a steady pace, not too fast, but not too slow either. They were hanging right on the fringe of the sound barrier, content in their speed. Their footfalls echoed their heartbeats and the swinging of the younger's arms set a nice soundtrack to their otherwise soundless run.

"How'd it go last night?" The elder asked after a time.

The younger's brow furrowed before he answered. "It was rough. Tails had a hard time getting through Eggman's second firewall. Took him over an hour." At the other's surprised expression, he nodded. "Yeah, I was getting worried. He pulled through in the end though. They managed to disable Eggman's whole network. It should take him over a week to rebuild it, according to Tails."

Sonic mulled that over in his mind. "That's great." He smiled. "I knew he could do it."

They ran in silence for a while, enjoying the feel of the wind in their fur and the grass under their feet. They didn't leave Mystic Ruins; only circumvented the large Zone over and over again.

"Why'd you leave?" The younger asked suddenly, catching his running companion unawares. The elder hedgehog faltered, almost tripping. He got his feet back underneath himself quickly, falling into a roll to stop himself from hitting the ground before coming back to his feet back at the correct speed.

"Tails is a teenager now." He began, shaking his head. "He needs to get used to doing things on his own without me standing over his shoulder." He paused, as if searching for the right words to explain. "I needed to show him that I'm confident in him, and leaving was the best way to do that." He shrugged. "Besides, I was tired and all that computer crap just goes over my head."

The smaller hedgehog mulled that over in his mind. It made sense, in a weird sort of way. Tails had taken Sonic's departure last night like a hammer blow to the skull, but he had quickly gotten over it when calls started to filter in from Station Square, demanding an explanation to the blown water mains. Tails had handled all of the yelling humans with a grace that the small speedster had yet to see come from the fox, and he had explained the situation in a soothing calm tone of the voice, all the while his fingers flew across the keyboard, blocking the virus at every pass.

It had almost been like he had seen Tails evolve from the timid kid he knew into the brave, strong adult he was destined to be. It had been a fulfilling experience, and he had almost wished that his older self had been there to see it.

"Tails is going to be a strong leader one day." He said simply, slowing his run to a jog as his elder self led him back to the Workshop.

"Oh yeah," the other answered strongly. "He's gonna be one of the best leaders the world has ever seen, and he doesn't need me to hold him back."

The younger nodded, even though the concept of Tails growing up was ten years away from his mind. "I doubt that you'll hold him back," he answered, addressing his older self as if he were a different person. It was almost surreal to the older hedgehog. "If anything, I believe that you'll _help_ him succeed. But," he winked, "what do I know? It's not like I'm _you_ or anything."

The elder hedgehog smirked, rubbing his younger self on the head. "I see now why I got kicked out of every school in Green Hill. They must've hated my smart mouth."

"I'm pretty sure _everyone_ hates our smart mouth. You have a habit of speaking without thinking."

"_ME_? What about _YOU_? !"

"I don't like to talk much, in case you forgot. Remember how Mighty used to think I was a mute?" The younger hedgehog smiled, finally slowing down to a walk.

The elder stopped in front of the door to the Workshop, pulling it open and ushering his younger self in. "Yes, I remember." Catching sight of the kitchen, he winced as his stomach gurgled unhappily at him. Next to him, his younger self yawned hugely. "Go get some sleep, little me. I'll make some breakfast and keep it warm in the oven."

Mini-Sonic smiled, a weird expression the only warning his older self got as the younger hedgehog wrapped the taller blue Mobian in a hug. The larger hedgehog froze before chuckling. He had never really touched his younger self before besides grabbing his arm to pull him out of danger and/or out of a room, and he wondered if this was what Tails or Amy felt when they hugged him, nothing but muscle and soft fur. It was almost disconcerting.

"Thanks for showing me that I'm not doing this for nothing." His younger self said as he stepped away. Seconds later, he was gone up the stairs in a streak of blue.

Sonic smiled for what had to be the twentieth time that morning, and he set off to make some breakfast. He had three hungry children to feed after all.

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><p><em>Yes indeed, I did NOT have a plan for this one. I'm happy with how it came out though. <em>

_I've never expressed this in the prose, but Sonic and Tails share a room because the Workshop is a two bedroom house (at least, in this story it is). Classic Sonic and Tails get one room and the Moderns get the other. (Why don't the Sonics share a room and the Tailses take the other? you may be asking yourselves, and my answer is this: I dunno about you guys, but I'd rather share a room with my best friend than a possible future/past incarnation of me. Too freaky.) If someone like Knuckles wants to crash at the Workshop for whatever reason, the couch is a pull-out. Okay? Okay. :D_

_Okay guys, I got a tumblr. Why am I telling you this? Because I got it for the sole purpose to putting sneak peeks and/or deleted scenes for future/past ficlets on the Internet. There's a snippet of the next ficlet on there now, if you want to go look. :D (Link on my profile!)_

_Happy Thanksgiving!  
><em>

_Review please?_


	17. I Have You In My Eye

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"I have you in my eye…"

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><p><strong>Notes: <strong>ONE HUNDRED REVIEWS? WHAT. NO WAY. ALKSDJFKLAJDKLAJKLASDJLFKJA;D Thank you guys, soooooo much. You don't even know how much this means to me… (The review counter on this story is wrong. I do actually have 100 reviews. Dunno why it's stuck on 95.) I'm posting this one so soon after the last one because of the 100 reviews. Don't expect them so close together all of the time.

100th review was submitted by DanceDream! You get a prize! Look down at the bottom for more info!

This one takes place during _Generations_, more specifically during _Sonic and the Black Knight._

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><p>Tails had gotten used to having his younger self around. At least, as used to it as he could get in the short amount of time he'd had during this adventure. They had been hurled through time, his past flying at him and hitting him in the face. He'd been forced to relive his horrifying experience on Cocoa Island, had had to glimpse at the life he had before Sonic found him, and had to trudge through every single adventure past then.<p>

Sure, he loved his big bro, and he wouldn't trade any of the experiences with him, but the adventures were more glorified in his memories. He had forgotten the extreme hunger that had plagued him during their time on Angel Island, or the sprained ankle he had during the Shadow/G.U.N. fiasco, and he really didn't need a reminder. His memories were biased and he only remembered the good things: going Super with the Super Emeralds, following Sonic through Chemical Plant, meeting his best friend. He didn't need the bad resurfacing and ruining his perception of the past.

The transition from one past adventure to the next was easier with his younger self there. It was nice having someone there that could understand what he was going through. Sure, Sonic had lived - almost - every piece of his past with him, but the younger Tails... He _understood _in a way that Sonic couldn't.

So, yes, he was used to having the younger him there. No matter how weird it was, he was used to it.

However, now they were in a piece of Sonic's past that wasn't familiar to him. He had heard Sonic tell him about this medieval land, full of knights and villages and wizards, but he wasn't sure he could accept it. The sword clutched in the older Sonic's hand was _talking_, after all.

"We need to find a blacksmith, Knave!" It barked, looking back and forth between the two Sonics. The older smirked, weighing the piece of metal in his hand while the younger was staring wide-eyed at the enchanted fighting object.

"Good to see you too, Caliburn." The larger of the two hedgehogs laughed, dashing away from the group and swinging the sword a few times to get a feel for it. Tails twitched at the way the blade _sang_ as it flew through the air.

"That sword was _talking_!" The smaller speedster mumbled toward the foxes. Both nodded slowly in response, just as dumbfounded as Sonic. "Swords don't _talk_!"

"I assure you," Caliburn answered as the older hedgehog appeared beside his younger self, "that swords do not speak. _Enchanted swords_, however, do in fact, talk."

"Oh," the blue ten year old answered flatly, "well then that's different." His expression spoke of a tortured soul. "First genies and rings, now wizards and swords…" He planted his head into his hand. "Why can't my life be normal?"

"Because you're a hedgehog that can run faster than the speed of sound?" The little Tails asked, scooting into his older brother's side. "And there's a human shaped like an egg that wants to take over the world and you're the only one fast enough to stop him?"

Sonic smiled a little, ruffling the kit's head fur. "I meant beside that, but yes, I guess you're right."

While the little fox beamed, the older hedgehog cuffed his teenaged charge on the head. "Why can't you be that cute now?"

Tails scowled. "Don't we need to find a blacksmith?"

Sonic rolled his eyes, attempting to speak over Caliburn's exclamations of delight that _someone_ – finally – could stay on track during their quest. "Yeah, I guess we should. This sword here –" he shook Caliburn – "claims that it never dulls, but then insists that I take it to see a blacksmith, so we should probably listen to it. Or else it won't shut up." Ignoring the indignant sputtering of the sword, he jerked his head eastward. "Nearest town is that way. Half an hour's run. We'd better get going."

o0o

When they arrived at the blacksmith's shop, Tails – both of him – was exhausted. The younger was leaning against his older brother, trying to stay upright, while the elder fox was struggling to walk in a straight line. The 'half an hour's run' had turned out to be just that: a thirty minute run for Sonic, which translated out to a thirty minute flight for Tails, something even the older had trouble doing.

They stumbled into the shop, both foxes falling onto each other out of exhaustion in the corner while the Sonics looked around for the blacksmith. The shop was small, so they didn't have much to scout through before they decided that the blacksmith was nowhere to be found.

"Where is he?" The older hedgehog demanded, bouncing on his toes. Caliburn was seemingly floating next to him. "We need to go so we can move!"

Tails lifted his head slightly from where he was leaning against his younger self and he sighed. "He's bound to come back sometime Sonic…" He trailed off as the woolen flap covering the entrance to the shop flapped slightly and someone pushed through. Tails felt his jaw drop.

"Lo, visitors!" The blacksmith greeted in an eerily familiar voice. It was a voice that the elder of the two foxes had left behind a few years ago and one that the younger had yet to grow into, but it was still _his_ voice. "What work do you come bearing for me?"

The person before them was young, only about eight years old. He was covered in golden fur, with ears replicated on the two foxes lying in the corner. His eyes were a crystal blue, and he was wearing a smock with a very crude version of Tails' two-tailed insignia sewn into it. His shoes were red and white, but were more like boots than sneakers, crawling further up the fox's leg than usual. He had brushed in so quickly, he had missed the two other vulpines in the room, but the other canines couldn't look away from the double waving tails right in front of them. They shared a look, gulping.

The younger of the two Sonics shared their expression, his eyes darting back and forth between the foxes and the blacksmith.

"This hunk of metal needs sharpening." Sonic answered the blacksmith's question, shoving Caliburn at him. "It barely does any damage."

The fox caught the sword on the blunt edge and almost stumbled under the heft of the blade. He stared down at the weapon with wide eyes. "Why!" He exclaimed, rubbing his gloved thumb down the broadside. "This is an _enchanted_ sword! What a magnificent blade! A normal whetstone will not do!" Handing Caliburn back to Sonic, he turned. "I will need to go claim a better one from the market; I will be back shortly."

He was almost out of door when he caught sight of the two foxes still resting on the ground, and he froze. His eyes widened slowly and his mouth dropped open.

"Hiya." The four year old incarnation of Tails said after a time, getting antsy with the one-sided staring match. The blacksmith's eyes hardened as the familiar voice of his youth met his ears. He whipped back around, jabbing a finger at the almost identical foxes.

"What kind of devilish trickery is this?"

o0o

One tell-all confusing conversation later, and the blacksmith was ready to kick all four Mobians out of his Workshop, enchanted sword or not. He couldn't stop staring at the two other foxes, one four years younger than him and the other five years his elder. They both had his mannerisms – the wringing of his gloves when he was nervous, the twitching ears when agitated – and the older beheld the same color eyes as his own.

That was the most disconcerting to the young blacksmith. He looked into those eyes and saw a whole different life he could have lived; one full of love and companionship. His life here in King Arthur's realm had been rough. For as far back as he could remember, he had lived on his own, struggling to find food and surviving off the kindness of the people around him. It had taken him four years as an apprentice in a blacksmith's shop to even get onto his feet and now he finally had his own Workshop. He didn't have time for friendship or playtime; not when his future was at stake.

These foxes, though, grew up with a guardian, someone to take care of them and make sure that their needs were taken care of. He didn't know what kind of world they lived in, but that didn't really matter in the scheme of things. They had someone looking out for them, and he didn't.

It was unfair, in his opinion, that he should draw the short straw. Why did these two get the blue hedgehog to watch over them and he didn't? Why did they get bestowed with companionship and an easy life while he was forced to work his tails off from the day he could hold a hammer? He huffed, crossing his arms and blowing his bangs away from his eyes, glaring down at the four year old now asleep in the smaller of the blue hedgehog's lap. _That _Tails could sleep easy, knowing that the strong hand of the cobalt hedgehog was resting on his head, protecting him from harm. Where was the blacksmith's protection?

He stood, clapping his hands and getting ready to usher the four intruders out of his shop when the Sacred Sword – Caliburn, the elder hedgehog had informed him – spoke.

"I have you in my eye, young Blacksmith," it rumbled, male voice veiled with a cryptic tone. "I can see the pain you are suppressing. You are not alone in this world, young one. Your protector is just slower in coming than these."

The blacksmith fumbled, pausing mid-clap as the sword's words sunk in. _I am to have a caretaker too?_ He thought to himself, his thoughts spinning._ No, surely the blade jests. It cannot know what is to come_.

"Do you possess foresight, O mighty Sacred Caliburn?" Despite his thoughts, the Blacksmith asked. "How can you tell me what-has-yet-to-happen in such confidence?"

"Nay," Caliburn answered, bobbing up and down in the air beside the older of the two hedgehogs, "I am not a seer, but I can see the connections between this world and theirs," the sword's eyes blinked toward the four Mobians, "now that I have seen the three of you in close quarters." He now indicated the three kitsunes. "You share an energy that I have not seen in any other being. There is no possibility for coincidence when your energies are so similar."

"Woah, woah," the larger of the two hedgehogs held up his hands, halting the conversation. "Since when can you see energy signatures, Caliburn?"

"I have been able to see the energy that surrounds very specific individuals for all of my existence, Knave." The blade answered, his tone turning cold.

"Yeah, but-!" Sonic was cut off.

"My abilities are not up to questioning at present, Knave." Caliburn barked, hopping up and down out of agitation. "We are here to get my blade sharpened." He turned to the blacksmith. "If you would…?"

The young fox blinked, finally coming back to himself. "Yes, I will go retrieve that whetstone now." He needed to get out of his workshop to clear his head, and the best way to do that was to go to the market. "I will be back shortly." He was gone before any of the others had a chance to blink.

"…That was weird." Little Tails spoke after a beat of silence and the other three Mobians jumped.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, little bro!" Mini-Sonic greeted with a laugh as the fox sat up slowly. "Did you have a good nap?"

"More importantly, did you possibly dream up a way to make Sacred Swords rust? I'd love to be able to shut this oversized letter opener up." The larger of the two hedgehogs asked, easily dodging the swing Caliburn took at him with its blunt edge. "Seriously! You guys didn't have to lug this thing around for a week like I did!"

The two smaller Mobians chuckled at Sonic's antics, grinning when an impromptu sword fight began between Sonic (equipped with a random blade from the blacksmith's fight) and Caliburn (fighting on its own), insults being thrown around the room like confetti.

As the hedgehog and sword crashed through the small shop, the elder Tails stared after the blacksmith, his blue eyes shining as his thoughts followed the path of the eight year old fox's own musings.

_Why was I so lucky?_

* * *

><p><em>I hate Caliburn's speech patterns. They kill me with their formality. <em>

_And, because a Black Knight based fic wouldn't be complete without a sword fight, here's a random practice snippet I've had hidden on my computer for a long time:_

o0o

_A sharp gust of air_. He jumped, avoiding the hit by mere millimetres. _A glint of steel_. He twisted, maneuvering away seconds later and back the way he came. Double swords swung at him as his opponent attempted to slash him in two. He moved with grace though, his own sword a lethal weapon of alacrity.

The doubles were heavy, made for force and strength and that put his adversary at a disadvantage against his speed. Caliburn sang as it swept through the air, while its enchanted mouth called out advice and insults at its blue wielder. The red foe constantly had to backtrack, unable to keep up with the speedier one's movements. This gave him an extreme vulnerability that allowed Caliburn to sail through his defenses and slam into his armor. Breath was caught, body hunched instinctively and thus letting the enchanted sword to move forward quickly again, striking with lethal accuracy. Every hit caused his guard to crumble more and more.

_Knuckles_… He thought to himself as he swung his sword at the armored echidna, smirking when the sound of metal on metal resonated out. His body jumped into the air, curling into a homing attack, sword protruding from his spin and flinging out at unsafe angles. Now that Caliburn accompanied him when he homing attacked into the air, his spins weren't as defined and easy to control as before, so he had to be careful about where he did it. Didn't want to hit any unknowing villagers who didn't have the common sense to go inside when a bunch of purple monsters attacked.

His attack brought him down straight onto the armored head of his opponent with a large clang. The echidna stumbled back, landing roughly on his backside, unable to guard in time. Hedgehog feet pounded on the ground as their owner darted across the clearing, his sword coming up and leveling with the other's chin.

"Surrender, brave knight," Caliburn called from Sonic's hand, "for you have been beaten."

o0o

_Yay sword fighting!_

_**To DanceDream:**__ I hate having to put this out here where everyone can see, but you don't have an account (how's that campaign going, by the way?). Your prize for being the 100__th__ reviewer… You can request ANY fic subject that you want in the Sonic fandom (besides romance, yaoi, or anything that I don't agree with (if I don't agree, I'll somehow tell you)). (It has to be in the SEGA/Game universe or the OVA universe, because I never really watched the cartoons, I hate Archie, and the manga is lost on me. Sonic X is okay too, I guess, as long as Chris isn't a major player.) Has there ever been a situation you've thought about/wanted to see but nobody's ever written it? Tell me and I'll try it. ;D If not, well, then you can hold onto this request and ask me later. _

_**To the rest of you**__: Want a request? Well, I'll be having random little prize surprises every now and then. The only way to get them is to review though. ;_

_Review please?_


	18. It Touched Me Right

_The Genesis of a Generations_

"It Touched Me Right …. Urrp! Never Mind, That Was Gas."

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>: Oh, how much torture can I pack into one ficlet? Let's see, shall we?

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><p>There were only a few things that were constant in the lives of Mobius' heroes.<p>

Sonic liked to run: fact.

Tails was smart: fact.

Knuckles lived on a floating Island: fact.

Eggman was a psychotic maniac bent on world domination and all around nasty things: fact.

Sonic thought the world was his own personal playground: muddled fact.

In Knuckles oh-so-well-formed-introverted opinion, Sonic was as crazy as they came when it had to do with jumping off things without looking, swinging off things that had no business swinging, and catapulting himself out of canons. Big canons with lots of firepower.

Sonic just thought it was fun.

The hedgehog's mentality was that if it looked possibly life-threatening, it probably was – to someone who didn't have legs that could reach mach 1, the ability to rip through metal like it was butter, or nerves of steel. His whole life was one long life-threatening ordeal after impossible reality; he could have filled a whole set of encyclopedias with things he shouldn't have been able to do, and he was only ten years old. He could only stare in wonder as his older self – ten years his senior and therefore way more experienced in matters of impracticality – dashed through the air, flipped over bars like a gymnast, and used a line of rings to get over a huge life-threatening drop to nowhere.

Tails – the older of the two – grabbed Sonic's outstretched hand, towing him across the same drop his elder self just catapulted himself over with just a line of rings to hold him up. He gulped as he looked down, grasping Tails' hand a little tighter. He wasn't one to suffer from vertigo, but his vision did a little swimming before he looked back up, gulping to himself.*

Thank Chaos for flying fox kids.

When his feet touched down again, he felt his stomach affix itself back to its correct position and he realized how nervous he had been to cross that chasm. He trusted Tails – no matter which incarnation of him – with his life, but he didn't like entrusting his well being to someone like he usually had to with the fox. He had to hope and pray that if he fell, Tails would be fast enough to catch him. Luckily, the worse-case scenario hadn't occurred yet, but Sonic couldn't help but be antsy… It only took one time for him to be a blue splat on the ground somewhere.

Of course, the fact that he was currently hanging out with an older version of himself proved to him that he would live to at least twenty, but that was _beside the point_.

"Hurry up Sonic!" Tails laughed as he took off after the hedgehog's older self, already a blue dot in the distance. The fox zoomed off, flipping over and over as the road – possibly some type of vine – twirled around itself in a weird sort of Möbius strip. He plunged into the underbrush, and Sonic had no choice but to follow him, lest he get stuck in the middle of nowhere with no idea which way to go.

As he started to run, his arms pumping and his breath even, he couldn't help but be awed by the scenery passing by him in a blur of colors. They were currently rushing through Frog Forest, checking for signs of robot activity; there had been rumblings of Dr. Eggman in the area, but so far they hadn't seen anything. There were only three of them on this mission: Sonic, Sonic, and the elder Tails. The smaller kit had been left at the Workshop with Amy, because they needed to be quick and the fox didn't have the same amount of stamina that his elder self possessed, and he was tail deep in a top secret project. He wouldn't let any of his friends into his small corner of the Workshop – not even his bigger persona – and was being completely closed lipped about the whole ordeal. He had passed up the option of rushing headlong through a forest in favor of sitting at home, doing something he loved.

_Smart kid_. Sonic thought to himself, his world getting turned upside as he followed his friends through the twisting vine maze.

Using a springy type of plant to get himself onto the next platform – which so happened to be a large tree branch – he paused as he caught sight of his surroundings. They were traveling through the tree tops, in a large loop-filled section above everything else. Most Mobians preferred to stay up here when they traversed the jungle-like environment, because it was supposedly 'safer'.

Grabbing onto a large vine and swinging himself up to the next level, he shook his head. _Safety must be a relative thing for Mobians…_ He sighed, finally catching sight of his traveling companions a few meters ahead of him.

They were both standing side by side, staring up at a giant loop that split into three sections, each starting with a dash panel and ending at the same spot. _Overkill_… He thought to himself, twitching as he noticed that the only unclaimed loop was one that had a huge gap at the top.

"Oh, hey Mini-Me." Sonic greeted as his younger self ambled up, still staring up at the huge hole in the road with huge eyes. "We decided to wait for you so we could do these loops together. They're crazy fun."

"Yeah," Little Sonic's voice was feeble and he gulped, "fun."

Disregarding his smaller persona's tone of voice, the elder of the two hedgehogs smiled. "See, I told you he'd be in for it Tails!" He slapped the fox on the back good-naturedly and Tails shared a look with the smaller hedgehog that seemed to beg him to reconsider following the flow of time and becoming the dare-devil that he was at twenty years old. The younger speedster was seriously considering it. "Okay, so on the count of three, we all go. Ready? OnetwothreeGO!"

Sonic was off like a shot, speeding through the dash panel and over the top of the loop before Tails sighed and followed. Mini-Sonic gulped before tentively jogging up to the dash panel. As soon as his feet crossed it however, he was zipping forward without his permission. He scaled the wall in three seconds, running against gravity and the gap in the loop was getting closer with every step. Slamming across another dash panel, he gulped as the distance between him and the empty air diminished substantially, and, two seconds later, there was nothing under his feet.

His feet kept moving, trying to keep him in motion as gravity took hold and tried to pull him down. However, momentum came in and bashed gravity to the side, pushing him forward in an arc toward the opposite wall of the loop. His feet touched back onto grass milliseconds later and he sped up, racing with gravity once again. Going down was harder than going up.

Now, he had to outrun the speed of freefall.

Nine point eight meters per second.

The air rippled around him, and he couldn't help but laugh as he leveled off again, back on the flat ground on the other side of the loop. Somewhere behind him, Tails was left in the dust.

"Wow, my head's spinning!" The fox's voice took on a nasally, young quality and Sonic felt his ears twitch in agitation.

Tails skidded to a stop next to them seconds later, smiling cheekily. "Gee whiz, Sonic!" He laughed, still in that annoying voice. "That was fun!"

The elder hedgehog's face was flat, and he laughed humorlessly. "Not funny kid."

Tails smiled again before starting forward. "Well c'mon. The sooner we get outta here, the sooner I can figure out what the younger-me is working on!" He took to the air, _thwaping_ away without another word.

Sonic shared a look with his older self, _you raised him_. Macro-Sonic sighed, shaking his head, but the small grin that graced his features told him all he needed to know.

_Yeah, I know._

They moved quickly after that, grabbing a weird flower that towed them up to an even higher level. Little Sonic had been unfortunate enough to be at the bottom of that tower, taking up what had been called the 'Knuckles position' by his two 'friends'. Once they landed, he needed a ten minute rest, his knees were shaking so badly.

Tails flew off to scout ahead, grinning like a maniac, while the elder Sonic sidled up next to his younger self. The more youthful hedgehog was lying on the ground, belly facing the sun and his eyes were closed.

"What's up, Mini-me?" Sonic asked his ten year old self, green eyes filled with some hidden emotion.

The lighter blue hedgehog sighed, rubbing his head with his gloved hand. "You. You're crazy."

"Well then, so are you."

A flat look. Sonic lifted himself up onto his elbows. "No, I'm not. You're jumping over bottomless pits, riding flimsy flowers high into the air, and running through loops that may or may not be there the whole time! You're crazy!"

"And you ran through the Green Hills, unsure if what you were doing was the right thing. You rode across a lake of lava with only a block of stone separating you from it. _You_ stopped Eggman. That's crazy."

The younger shook his head, getting ready to reply, but a young voice stopped him.

"Hey guys!" Tails yelled as he careened to a halt right next to them. "You'll never guess what I found up ahead!"

o0o

'Up ahead' turned out to be over another bottomless pit, this time traversed by jumping across flimsy platforms that seemed to grow out of the oversized weeds dotted across the clearing, through a few more loops, and a swing from a vine. While the elder Sonic was twitchy from the adrenaline coursing through his system, the younger was twitchy just for the sake of being twitchy.

_At this rate, I'm gonna have a heart attack before I hit fifteen._

When he saw what he had risked his hide for, Sonic sighed in the nature of a mentally tortured individual, and he seriously considered just stomping away.

It was a _frog._ A big frog. But still, a _frog_.

"Tails," he began, rubbing his temples, "that's a frog."

"This isn't just _any_ frog!" Tails retorted, waving his hands toward the large semi-aquatic animal. "This is a type of frog that can call forth rain!"

The hedgehog's face and expression dropped and he turned on his heel. "Okay, I'm outta here." He stomped off through some bushes, halting when he realized that he was on a cliff and could therefore go no further. With a huff, he dropped to the ground, flinging his legs over the edge.

"Uh, Sonic…" Tails called timidly, trying not to anger the hedgehog. "You might want to watch where you're going…"

"I see the cliff Tails." Mini-Sonic answered with a sniff.

"He didn't mean the cliff." The elder hedgehog answered, peaking over the bushes at his younger self. "He meant the plants."

Sonic's head whipped around and his eyes widened as his brain comprehended the three leaved plants he had just walked through.

"That was poison ivy!" Mini-Sonic yelled, waving his arm around like it was on fire. He was on his feet and back with his companions in milliseconds. "_Poison ivy!"_

"I know it was poison ivy. Calm dow-!" Larger Sonic tried to reply, his voice cool.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I just rubbed against poison ivy!"

"Uh, guys." Tails muttered, hovering around the giant amphibian. "This frog doesn't look too good."

"I'm telling you to calm down because we're not al-!"

"I will _not_ calm down! It touched me right-!"

"Urrrp," the frog croaked.

"Never mind," Tails proclaimed as rain started to pelt them from above. "That was just gas."

The little blue one didn't seem to notice the rain, as he was too busy yelling in the face of his older self. "I'm gonna swell up and itch for _days_! All because you invited me on this insane trip! I can't believe I agreed to come with yo-!"

The taller of the two hedgehogs, finally getting fed up with the yelling accented voice of his younger self, clapped his right hand over a ten year old mouth. "Calm the hell down! We're not allergic to poison ivy! Stop yelling! Are you trying to attract all of the robots in this damn forest? !"

Little Sonic wilted, stilling. Once he was perfectly controlled and no longer in a crazed state, his elder self let him go, backing away slowly like he was a bomb getting ready to blow. "Not allergic to poison ivy?" At the elder's nod, he fell onto his backside. "So I just made a fool of myself for no reason?" He paused, looking up. "When the heck did it start raining?"

"When the frog croaked." Tails answered simply, patting the large amphibian on the head. "I told you it could call rain."

The diminutive Sonic groaned, letting his head fall into his hands. "Dare-devil stunts, flying flowers, and frogs that can summon rain. My future sounds awesome."

"Don't forget whales that chase you across unstable docks, aliens that possess you and give you amazing abilities, and hover board races." Tails replied, waving at the frog as it hopped away.

"Not to mention having to deal with _this_," green eyed Sonic tapped the fox on the head, "kid everyday for the rest of your life."

At Tails' indignant sputtering, small Sonic smiled. "Well, it can't be that bad then." He held up a hand and his older counterpart pulled him to his feet. "At least I know that I'm not completely crazy yet."

"Hey, if I can be crazy and _still_ have this awesome looking bod' then that's okay with me." The elder of the two hedgehogs grinned down at his smaller friend. "Besides, each adventure makes you wiser."

"Oh!" Tails yelled, slapping his right hand onto his forehead, his face one of comical disbelief. "I get it now! All of those life-threatening stunts you pull are done out of _wisdom_!"

"If one more smart comment comes out of your mouth today…" Sonic let the threat hang, and Tails smiled cheekily back. Taking to the air, he turned his eyes toward the horizon to keep watch for any robots.

"I'm just glad that I haven't lost any of my friends…" Little Sonic remarked, grinning slightly. "I don't think you'd be as sane as you are without them."

"First I'm crazy, and then I'm sane. Which is it?" He paused, lacing his hands behind his head as he started forward at leisurely walk. "Nah, really, they're our foundation. They hold us to the planet's surface. Without them, I don't think I would have been able to stop Eggman so many times. In fact, that fox up there is-" He was cut off by a yell from above.

"Hey, look at all of those Eggman's robots!" Tails hollered, pointing toward a group of Eggpawns ambling towards them. "Let's take them down with the power of teamwork!"

"- that fox up there is so dead once those robots are taken care of."

* * *

><p>*Yami-sama42 – my beta and best friend – summed up this situation very well:<p>

Classic Sonic: WTF, NO.  
>Modern Sonic: NO! WTF?<p>

Differing mentalities there.

* * *

><p><em>If you had any doubt about which game Frog Forest came from, Tails' last line should have been like a kick in the face. (Oh, and before you yell at me for Tails being supposedly "out of character" let me point you toward Sonic Colors. Yeah, you see that? He's a smart aleck. Get used to it.) <em>

_Sorry this one is so late. I had trouble with the prompt (hardest prompt in the whole bunch, I swear), and I was working rather diligently on DanceDream's request (it's at over 3,000 words and it's not even close to being done (there's a preview of said request on my tumblr, if you're interested)), so I hope you'll excuse my tardiness. (Oh, and stop asking me to write Olympics ficlets. No. Just no.)  
><em>

_The next one's gonna be awesome! I'm so excited about it, you don't even know. _

_Review please?_


	19. There Will Be Hell to Pay

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"There Will Be Hell to Pay"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Okay guys, this will probably be the last update until next year (January, not next December), unless I can write like a fiend in the next week (still gotta finish DanceDream's request). We're taking a family vacation to Florida from the 18th -23rd, I'm home for Christmas Day, and then I'm off to Kentucky to see my bestest friend until the 3rd. I _might_ convince myself to write on my multiple plane rides if I get enough encouraging reviews. ;D

Over 7,000 words. You people better love me for this.

* * *

><p>"<em>We're almost in position, Mechanic."<em>

"Roger that, T2. Hold your altitude once you reach cruising speed, but be ready to dive. We're heading in low and fast."

"_Got it, ten-four."_

Tails cut the transmission, tilting his head backwards to speak to the blue hedgehog standing behind him on the tail of an equally blue bi-plane. He aircraft was tipped slightly to the right, circling slowly above the lowest clouds. The hedgehog was relaxing, despite his standing position, with his hands laced behind his head and his eyes closed. He breathed deeply, no doubt getting ready for the upcoming mission.

"T2 and the other Sonic are almost ready."

Sonic cracked one of his emerald eyes open, setting Tails with a stare. "What about Knuckles?"

The fox shrugged, turning back to the controls. "Knuckles refused to carry a communicator, but I slipped one on him anyway." He smiled back at Sonic cheekily. "You might wanna be the one to call him."

Suddenly, Sonic had snatched a small red, communicator from the cockpit, hitting the button on the side with his index finger and grinning like a maniac.

"Hello, Radar. Come in Radar." He practically yelled into the small speaker. In the cockpit, Tails flinched, yanking an ear bud out of his ear. He turned slightly, setting Sonic with a sharp glare and the hedgehog smiled in apology.

The communicator was nothing but static for a second before the deep, scathing voice of Knuckles whispered back.

"_Would you keep it down, Sonic_?" The voice hissed quietly. "_We're in_ _the middle of Eggman's base. You probably just alerted all of the 'bots in this place_!"

"Use the code names, Knuckles!" Sonic commanded back, exasperated. "Eggman could be listening to us as we speak."

There was a pause, then the communicator clicked back and Knuckles spoke again, his voice flat. "_You first, Sonic_."

"Stop saying my name!"

A sigh. "_Fine. How much longer until you guys are in position? The younger-me is complaining about having to sit still for so long_." As Knuckles let go of the button, a different voice chimed in, low and accented.

"_I thought the Guardian of Angel Island never complained_…?" Mini-Sonic quipped, the sound of high speed wind distorting his words slightly.

Knuckles ignored him and there was silence for fifteen long seconds until the smaller Tails came onto the shared com-link. "_We're ready_." They were heading towards Eggman's latest stronghold, somewhere outside of Westopolis. There had been rumors of mass robot production among the locals, and that was just enough to get Sonic and his friends sniffing around the place.

"About three more minutes, Knuckles." The fox in the cockpit in front of Sonic replied, ignoring the hedgehog's hissed '_Codenames_!' "Get ready."

"_Finally_."

Tails cut off all of the communicators with a flick of a switch, and Sonic scowled. However, instead of protesting vocally, he just shoved the small radio into his quills for safe keeping. In front of him, Tails pulled his aviator goggles on over his face and Sonic followed suit with a pair of green sunglasses resting on his forehead. The wind this high in the air was fierce, jagged even, not like on the ground. When he ran along the land, he could easily keep his eyes open, but here… He couldn't see a thing unless he wore something to shield his eyes.

"We're in position." Tails said quietly into his communicator after he had flicked it back on. "T-minus thirty seconds."

"_Roger that_." His younger counterpart responded. "_Climbing now. Angle of forty-seven degrees. Speed constant."_

"Twenty seconds." Tails answered, pulling the _Tornado-2_, the blue counterpart to the plane that the four year old fox now piloted, into a steep climb as well. Sonic grabbed superstitiously onto the handlebars in front of him, turning his feet sideways to stay standing. The wind whipped his quills into a frenzy, dragging on them and trying to yank him off of the plane, and he resisted the urge to curl into a ball. "Forty-seven degree incline." He heard Tails remark. "Friendlies at three o'clock."

Sonic whipped his head to the right, feeling his eyes widen a fraction of an inch as the original _Tornado_, in full red glory, spun past them, his younger persona barely hanging on as the little fox piloting the plane whipped him around in complex aerial maneuvers. The smaller hedgehog's legs flailed behind him, his red sneakers flashing in the waning sunlight. His fingers scrabbled at the friction resistant surface of the _Tornado's_ upper wing.

"Watch the theatrics." Tails commanded, yanking the plane into a dramatic spin to avoid the right wing of the sister plane as the smaller fox foolishly rolled the plane to the right in an over-the-top display. "You could lose the precious cargo."

"Sorry Sonic!" The elder hedgehog heard the young voice of Mini-Tails yell toward his flailing older brother. The plane next to them leveled off, its pilot now speaking through the communicator. "_Cruising speed reached. Ready and waiting for signal."_

"Five seconds." Tails replied, pulling the plane out of its climb so it could fly next to its sister. "Four." The foxes brought the two aircraft as close as they dared, their wings stacking on top of each other like puzzle pieces. They were so close, the two hedgehogs standing on them could have grazed finger tips if they leaned in far enough. "Three." Sonic shared a look with his younger self, staring into the dark glasses covering his eyes. "Two." Both nodded once, steeling their nerves.

"One."

Time slowed as Sonic dropped to his belly, fingers grabbing the wing in a death grip. Tails yanked the plane completely downward, and Sonic gasped as gravity disappeared for a second and his body floated slightly off of the wing. His hands tightened, keeping him stationary as the wind licked eagerly at his feet, trying to pull him away.

Then, weightlessness disappeared and he smacked down into the wing with enough force to knock the breath out of his lungs. He closed his eyes as gravity grabbed hold of the plane, catapulting them downward without the need of the engines now working full speed to send them careening toward the ground.

Sonic's grip tightened still as something out of the corner of his eye flashed and he yanked his head to the left, trying to figure out what it was. His eyes widened as he caught sight of the missile, Eggman's insignia smiling up at him cheerfully.

"Tails!" He yelled, voice being dragged away by the wind. Still, the fox managed to hear him, his large ears swiveling as far back as they could. "Enemy drone at seven o'clock!" He knew better than to use words like "missile" and "left" when the fox was distracted, so he made his command as specific as possible.

Tails wasted no time whipping his head around in the direction indicated, he blue eyes narrowing as he analyzed the projectile now leveled off next to them. He bit his lip before focusing back on the controls of the plane in front of him.

Seconds later, Sonic's communicator crackled to life and Tails' slightly strained voice yelled across it. "We've got a probe!" He yelled. "Eggman knows we're coming, so keep your guards up!"

"_Roger that."_

"_Got it."_

"_What'd you think we were doing? Sleeping?"_

Sonic rolled his eyes, slightly wishing they hadn't invited Knuckles along. The echidna was always moody when he was away from the Master Emerald. Or when someone was near him near the Master Emerald. Or when he was around Sonic.

Come to think of it, Knuckles was always moody, so today was nothing new.

"Stay on my flank, T2!" Tails yelled as he pulled on the controls, sending the plane into a spinning dive. Sonic felt his fingers slip from their grip and he couldn't help the yell that escaped his throat. Luckily, he managed to grab the wing again before he was flung all the way off, and he cursed roughly out of relief. Five long seconds later, Tails leveled off again, having lost the probe. The other plane was right behind them, and Sonic shared an uneasy smile with his younger self before Tails had yanked the plane up again, gaining altitude.

Ahead of them, the base, small in comparison to its predecessors, but large when compared to anything else, towered into the sky. The main building was nothing more than a tower, while the other buildings were blockier, meant to take up space and no doubt slow Sonic down when blasted his way through. The space between the buildings was sparse, only wide enough for one hovercar, and the corners were at sharp right angles, again probably meant to slow down the high speed hedgehog.

"Projectiles heading our way!" Tails yelled, spinning the aircraft to the right again, sending Sonic's mind whirling and trying to catch up. "Climb!" The fox commanded, his voice cracking through the communicators.

The missiles, not that Sonic could properly see them from where he was pin-wheeling along with the _Tornado_, were land based and remote controlled, probably by one of Eggman's Eggpawns. They swooped slowly and imperfectly, unsure of exactly where they were headed. The robots controlling them needed time to calculate, while the foxes commanding the aircraft were living, breathing beings and could think faster than any computer. They took risks the robots never factored in.

Like the log roll they pulled at the same time, barely missing crashing into each other.

Almost comically, Sonic looked up during the roll to see the blue spines on his younger counterpart's back and he resisted the urge to reach up and touch them. Instead, he closed his eyes, wishing for the first time that the Tornado had a second seat installed.

The next few minutes passed in a blur for the hedgehogs and both were extremely thankful when the missiles – through some of the fanciest flying either of the foxes had ever done – crashed into each other, effectively neutralizing themselves. The sister planes circled back before diving back down through the cloud line, wasting no time.

"_What is this, an air show?"_ Knuckles quipped through the com. "_We're losing daylight here_."

He was right. The sun was slowly dipping below the horizon, and soon it would be too dark for them to feasibly fly around this close to Eggman's base. The missiles were small and almost invisible in the dark, and the Tornados weren't equipped with enough lights to illuminate the skies.

"_Initiate Plan B!"_ Tails commanded, pulling out of his dive so he was flying straight toward the base. "Sonic!" He yelled, turning slightly toward the hedgehog. "Get ready to drop!"

The hedgehog nodded, standing shakily. His knees were protesting against the rough treatment of the air-fight, but he forced them to cooperate as he slowly inched his way toward the edge of the plane. Seconds later, the red _Tornado_ leveled itself out next to them, and he sent a grimace toward his younger self.

"You ready? !" He yelled, cupping his hands over his mouth. His younger self couldn't hear him, he was sure, but he nodded nonetheless, understanding what he was asking. At the other's affirmation, Sonic turned to Tails and gave the fox a thumbs up.

The thirteen year old nodded before sending a hand signal to his four year old self. Together, both foxes pulled on their control sticks, yanking the planes upside down. Seconds later, the Sonics were hanging from the top wings, staring down at their feet.

"_On three_!" Tails yelled, voice once again amplified by the communicator in Sonic's quills. "_One, two_," Sonic took a deep breath, "_three_!"

He let go.

He plummeted for three long seconds before his brain kicked in and remembered the plan. Swiveling his head around, he caught sight of his younger self and wasted no time curling into a ball and homing attacking straight at the air right below him.

They smashed together in a crash of limbs and curse words. In a frenzy, both wrapped their hands around the upper arms of the other before throwing their bodies parallel with the ground in an attempt to get more wind resistance. The result was a horizontal line of Sonic the Hedgehog, falling rapidly toward the ground.

Tails watched them fall for a few seconds before finally turning back to the sky. He clicked his communicator on, turning the plane toward the Workshop. "They're falling Knuckles," he said, pushing the _Tornado_ as fast as it could go, "all yours. Me and T2 are heading to the landing spot. We'll wait there until one of you calls."

"_Got it_."

Tails turned back one more time, watching as the two blue forms raced closer and closer to the ground. His gut twisted painfully, and a sense of foreboding lodged itself firmly into his heart, but he shook it off, turning to focus on the clear sky.

Unbeknownst to him, his younger self was staring at his older brother in the same fashion, his eyes slightly misting over. "May Chaos protect you." He whispered under his breath, his young voice breaking on the last word.

o0o

The ground was looming quickly, and Sonic jerked his head around in an attempt to see their landing spot. The pavement was dark, illuminated only by the gentle swoop of searchlights. A low, almost-keening sound grew louder the further they fell, and the hedgehog could only assume that it was a variation of an alert, only decipherable by robots. Badniks patrolled the base at steady intervals, moving quickly from one point to the next, but they never bothered to look up.

Across from him, his younger self was shaking slightly, his eyes staring at nothing but the rapidly approaching ground. With a sigh, Sonic shook the arm his right hand had a grasp on, and the other jerked his head up to look at him.

His black eyes were slightly wild, and he was breathing rapidly. In an attempt to calm him down, Sonic cracked an easy smile, ignoring the way it tweaked at his cheeks and refused to travel into his eyes. The black eyes of his companion softened slightly and he nodded once, biting his lip, before looking back toward the ground.

Suddenly, a glint caught Sonic's eye and he turned his head slightly to get a better glimpse. There were two red blobs on the ground about twenty degrees to the left. They were both waving their arms over their heads in an attempt to catch his attention and he nodded once toward his younger self, making sure the small hedgehog saw them too, before jerking in the air, sending the both of them into a spin. They whirled in a full circle, telling those on the ground that they saw them.

"Catch!" Somehow Knuckles' voice reached him, and he raised his head just in time to see two Power Rings flying straight at them. He let go of his younger self, making sure the other hedgehog saw the Rings, before snapping his body into a dive to grab for it.

He reached it mere yards from the ground. His fingers barely grazed the surface before it disappeared with a small _chink_, its energy flooding into him.

Seconds later, he slammed face first into the asphalt.

Sonic the Hedgehog was known around the world for his thick-headedness, both literally and figuratively. However, in this instance, he was defiantly glad that his skull was resilient enough to withstand the impact of asphalt, because he was pretty sure that his brain should have been jelly after that fall.

He was also doubly thankful for the Ring.

The Ring softened the blow, cushioning his whole body for half a second, just long enough to keep him alive and from serious injury.

But, not long enough to stop it from hurting.

"Oh, _crap_!" He gasped, trying and failing to get air into his lungs as he rolled over onto his back. "Why does concrete have to be so _hard_? !"

"To teach you that falling on it isn't a good idea." His younger counterpart answered, standing over him in fully – uninjured – glory.

The smaller hedgehog had had the foresight _not_ to dive after the ring; instead opting to curl into a ball in mid-air, decreasing his wind resistance and dropping like a stone. He crossed paths with the ring through half-chance-half-design and hit the ground still in his spin, where his energy was changed from gravitational to rotational. He shot forward a few hundred feet, but had zipped back no worse for wear.

Unlike the ball of blue mess now cursing the heavens very colorfully.

The younger Sonic offered his hand to his elder counterpart once he seemed to have exhausted every curse word in his arsenal, and the other took it gratefully. He was fully on his feet and brushing himself off when Knuckles – trailed by his own younger shadow – jogged up, grinning like a maniac.

Sonic, taking one look at the echidna's face held up a hand. "Not a word, Knux."

Despite this, Knuckles still opened his mouth, only to be silenced by a glare. "Winter Holidays, two years ago."

The echidna's face puckered and he turned around on his heel, dragging his younger self behind him. "Entrance is this way."

"Thought so." Sonic answered smugly, tossing a smirk toward his younger self – who only managed to look perplexed – before setting off after Knuckles.

o0o

Tails was just shoving the blocks under the wheels when the shadows appeared. Both he and his elder self had just taxied in a small clearing a few miles away from the base, stopping the planes far apart from each other that they could get going quickly if need be. They both hopped out simultaneously, dragging the safety blocks behind them. The first thing a good pilot ever did after switching off the engines was secure their aircraft, and Tails was one of the best pilots out there.

So, he was slightly shocked when something shot by overhead as he was forcing the triangular blocks beneath the tires. There was a loud thump to his right and he barely had time to look that way before a laser blast hit the side of the _Tornado_ inches from his head. He yelped, ducking low, and crawled between the wheels, trying to shield himself from the shooters.

Seconds later, his older self slid along the ground and under the plane next to him, carrying a laser gun of his own.

"You need to get into the cockpit." He hissed, flipping onto his stomach and taking aim at something he couldn't see. The shot went off and a _thunk_ signaled a successful hit. "We're surrounded by Egg Fighters. The _Tornado's_ armor can take a few stray laser blasts, so you're safest up there."

"But-"

"No buts, Miles!" He commanded, flipping back around. The younger was slightly taken aback by the snap, and his ears lowered. "You need to go!" His eyes flashed darkly as the tire next to them was blown out from a laser, the air escaping in a giant _huff_. "Now!"

The little fox hesitated again, and his elder counterpart cursed low in his throat, letting off a few more shots. Once he was satisfied, he turned back to the smaller kit.

"Look Tails…" He began, hesitating. "You need to be safe." He paused. "I know this may sound crazy, but me? I'm not important. _You_ are. You're the future." He winced as another stray laser blast took out the other wheel.

The smaller kitsune stared up at his older self, seeing the glint of… determination in his eyes, and he nodded soundly, getting onto his hands and knees. "Okay."

"I'll cover you." Tails answered, twisting back onto his stomach. "Once you're in the cockpit, cover your head with the fire blanket and don't come out, no matter what you hear. You got it?"

Instead of answering, the other crawled out into the open, yelping as a laser clipped the side of his ear. The robot was nothing but shrapnel moments later.

Ten seconds afterward, Mini-Tails was in the cockpit, with his head covered and his eyes closed, praying for a miracle.

o0o

Miles away, Knuckles was leading his three companions through a wide airfield. The large clearing was covered almost completely with flying badniks – from Buzz Bombers to Cop Speeders to Spinners, every type of flying robot Eggman had in his arsenal was laying, almost dead looking, on the asphalt.

Sonic whistled, catching sight of a few smashed up 'bots along the way. "You took out the commanders?"

Knuckles nodded, staring straight ahead. "Yeah, once they were gone, the others just crumbled." His answer was short and he didn't bother elaborating.

The future counterparts of the hedgehog and echidna led the pack, while their younger personalities were hanging back a few feet, almost overwhelmed by what they had been through already that afternoon. Knuckles had stormed a full-fledged _base_ with nothing more than his future self to back him up, and Sonic had dropped out of a plane from Chaos knew how high and survived. To say they were a little overloaded was an understatement.

They walked in companionable silence after that, getting closer and closer to Eggman's base with every step. All four were ready for an attack at any time, knowing that the closer they got to the looming building, the more likely badniks would come spilling out of the doors to greet them.

However, they made it all the way up to the door without a single incident.

"Well, if this doesn't scream _'trap_'…" Mini-Sonic mumbled, staring up at the large metal door blocking their path. There was no robot guarding it, just a large knocker set right at eyelevel.

"There's only one way to find out!" The older hedgehog declared, pushing past his younger self, grabbing the knocker, and pounding it onto to the metal harshly four times. Three sets of eyes stared at him in mixed expressions of shock and disbelief and he answered back with an innocent stare of his own.

The door swung open.

"_Trap_…!" Little Sonic called, voice slightly sing-song and hysterical. "Please don't tell me we're actually gonna be stupid enough to run into thi-"

"Last one down the hall is a fat, rotten Eggman!" His older self yelled as he zipped out of sight.

A sigh. "Yes, we are."

The smaller of the red echidnas had his mouth hanging open and his elder self pushed it closed as he walked past him. Placing a hand on Sonic's shoulder, he gave him a sympathetic look. "That's what you have to look forward to."

A flat look. "I can barely hide my excitement."

o0o

They moved quickly after that, unhindered by robots, and when they reached the heart of the base, none of them – save one – were shocked when the door clicked shut of its own accord and Egg Fighters popped out of the ground like turrets, guns pointed straight at them.

"Trap." The dark eyed version of Sonic sighed, slapping his forehead. The room was circular, with metal paneling covering the walls all the way around. There were no obvious weak points, no windows, and no seam signifying where the door had been. They were well and truly trapped.

"What's this, Eggman? !" The other hedgehog demanded at the same time that the smaller spoke.

"Just a welcoming committee!" Eggman yelled happily, the wall right in front of them flipping over to reveal a monitor displaying the doctor's large face.

"Woah, doc," Sonic quipped, looking sideways at his younger self. Mini-Sonic sent the look right back, falling into the steady rhythm of banter-and-then-battle now that Eggman had shown himself, "cool it on the stereoscopic 3D. I don't need to see every fat fold on your face."

The look Eggman sent them would have been called 'pouting' on anyone else, but on him… it was just bizarre. "So rude Sonic, even after I let you into my home uninvited."

"I don't think it's a matter of you letting us do anything, Robotnik." Mini-Sonic replied easily, bouncing up and down on his toes. "We would'a gotten this far even if you had sent badniks after us. Now, you wanna let us go so we can trash your base, or are we gonna have to get rid of all of these 'bots first?"

"I don't know, Sonic." Eggman responded, looking almost sheepish. "You might want to watch your actions for a bit longer. You see, I have something that may interest you, and you wouldn't want me to retaliate against you too soon, would you?"

"We don't have time for games, doc!" The elder Sonic took up the banter, his foot tapping. "You've got three seconds to show us what you're hiding, or all of these robots will be gone before you can say 'mustache'."

Eggman tsked. "Patience is a virtue Sonic." He leaned in toward the camera, so that all the four Mobians could see were his cold, dark eyes. "A virtue you should practice. Especially when dealing with _me_." He swept back then, pressing a button on the control panel in front of him with a flourish. The screen went fuzzy before refocusing on a scene that made both Sonics' hearts drop.

The room was dark, the only light coming from a bare overhead bulb. Both incarnations of Tails were bound in rope, the younger with dark bruises lacing his arms from being brutally pulled from the sanctuary of the _Tornado's_ cockpit. The older had a fierce look of determination, anguish, and anger; in his mind, he'd failed the only thing he set out to do, and it made him want to rip all of the fur out of his tails. Surrounding the two was an entire battalion of robots, each one with at least two laser cannons aimed at the foxes; some even equipped with old fashioned bullet shooters. The robots were tall enough that their 'faces' were in shadow, the drooping Eggman logo seeming to stare into one's soul. The rope was thickly knotted over their wrists and ankles, with flimsy steel chains secured around the tails of both kitsunes. Tails was sweating, his blue eyes glowing, glaring at the mad scientist with contempt. The younger was curled in on himself, tears stinging his dark eyes, the pain and fear gripping him far better than any rope or chain.(*)

"As you can see Sonic," The dictator cackled, his image now taking up half of the screen. The elder of the two foxes stared at the camera in contempt, obviously seeing the doctor's face somehow as well. His ears flicked in an unsteady pattern, his agitation tangible. "I seem to have you between a rock and a hard place!"

"Let them go, Robotnik!" Little Sonic roared, charging at the nearest Egg Fighter and bouncing off of its head in an attempt to reach the monitor. His elder counterpart did nothing to stop him; he was too busy staring at his little brother's ears. "They're innocent!"

"Ohohoho!" Eggman chuckled, mirth shaking his whole frame. "That's rich, hedgehog. They are no more innocent than you! In fact, that are _guiltier_, because they destroy more robots with those blasted planes that you _ever_ could!"

The light blue hedgehog replied, but the adult speedster didn't hear what he said, his concentration purely on Tails' ears. His brain ticked, counting the number of times each ear twitched. Tails was staring straight at him, his blue eyes shining and begging; begging him to _understand._

Suddenly, realization. His green eyes widened and a small smile – so tiny he barely even noticed it – spread across Tails' face and he flicked his ears again, this time slower than the last, giving Sonic a chance to dig up long buried knowledge.

_Morse code. _

His little brother was a genius.

One long twitch, then a quick flick. A long pause, then another quick flick.

_NE_

A longer pause.

A long twitch, a short flick, a long twitch, a short flick.

_C_

The message went on, but that was all he needed, and he blinked back his own message, his own ears too small to be seen from this distance.

_Got it. TY, kid. C U soon. _

He shook his head, marveling at how _smart_ Tails was.

_North east corner._ Tails had sent him, which meant that Eggman wasn't being as careful as he thought he was. That, or he was being cocky, because Tails knew exactly where he in relation with the rest of the base. That was bad kidnapping strategy.

"Now, Sonic… I know how much you adore this little bag of fluff," Eggman continued, using a joystick to move the camera so it was only pointing at the younger of the two foxes, "so I'll be frank with you. You do what I say, and you can have him back." The older hedgehog tuned back into the conversation at just the right moment. His younger self was being held back by Knuckles a few feet behind him, the strong hands of the elder echidna grabbing his arms while the younger stood in front of the growling hedgehog, hands on his shoulders.

"Sonic! Don't listen to him! Get away!" The little fox on the right hand of the screen yelled, and the camera whipped away right as a yelp and a sharp crack sounded, signifying something striking the kit. The camera focused on the older fox, where he's straining against his bonds, his eyes practically feral and his lips curled into a snarl. He growled threateningly, words barely forming on his lips.

"_I will rip every single one of you apart with my bare hands if you touch him agai_-!" He is cut off as an Egg Fighter cuffed him over the head with its rifle, effectively knocking him out.

The room was filled with shocked silence; the four Mobians watching as – in almost slow motion – Tails slumped against his bindings, his head drooping perilously low. He was still breathing, that much was clear from the shuddering breaths the fox's lungs forced against the ropes, but there was a dangerous red substance dripping between his ears. A loud cry, one of filled with anguish and sadness, met their ears, and all four knew that Little Tails was still conscious and watching as his older self struggled to keep breathing.

Sonic's vision tunneled, everything around him going dark, except for the image of Tails, wilted against the ropes.

Before he was aware of what he was doing, half of the Egg Fighters were gone, nothing but shrapnel. He landed back on his feet, ignorant to the fact that he had moved at all, and he clenched his fist.

"Let him go, Robotnik." He hissed, voice low and threatening, his green eyes dark and almost soulless. "Or there will be hell to pay."

"Ooooh, did I hit a nerve? Are you going to cry over a little spilt blood? Surrender now, and I won't have to hurt him anymore. Continue to oppose me and it'll be more than just a simple bump on the head." Robotnik responded, more than a little shaken up over the use of his real name by the darker blue hedgehog. He hadn't called the doctor anything besides that _accursed_ nickname for more than five years…

"You and what army doc?" Sonic asked simply, raising his head so Robotnik could see the glint hidden in his cloudy eyes. Then, the hedgehog was gone. The echidnas gasped, dropping to the ground and covering their heads as the remaining robots exploded. The younger hedgehog, however, remained standing, looking grim.

"Do you really _think_ that those are the only robots that I have in this base?" The evil dictator laughed, throwing back his head. "Those are only the beginning!" So saying, he pressed a button and more Egg Fighters rose from the floor, their numbers doubling on the prerequisite.

The light blue hedgehog scowled and he crossed his arms and his older counterpart stopped without any visible effort – one second he wasn't there, the next he was – panting and swearing under this breath. "What do you want, Robotnik?" The ten year old inquired, tapping his foot.

"I have a little game for you, Sonic." The doctor responded after a time, waiting for the older hedgehog to calm down enough to listen. "If you win, I'll let your _precious_ foxes go. If not, then you will surrender to me."

Sonic took all of two seconds to think about it before he replied, at the same time as his younger self. "Yes."

o0o

Knuckles was removed from the room, kicking and screaming. He – both incarnations of him – wasted no time cursing Robotnik and his parentage, fighting against the strong arms of the Egg Fighters holding on to them. They were hauled away nonetheless, and – Robotnik assured them, though Sonic didn't believe in him the least – tied to chairs in the next room, where another monitor allowed them to watch the proceedings.

As soon as the doors were closed again, and all robots clear of the area, the ceiling opened and thousands of Chaos Emeralds rained down onto their blue heads. The hedgehogs scrambled away, trying to avoid the falling projectiles by sidestepping around them, and both avoided concussions with ease, though they looked at all of the gems warily.

"Only a few of these Emeralds are real." Robotnik guaranteed them, stroking his mustache. "You have five minutes to find them." He paused, looking each hedgehog up and down. "Begin."

And, just like that, their fate was waged on a bunch of rocks.

Mini-Sonic wasted no time diving into the pile of gems, grabbing one in each hand and holding each up to his chest in an attempt to see if his heart thrummed at the touch, like it did with the real Emeralds. Nothing.

"There's only five possible real ones." His older self said, coming up behind him slowly. "Shadow has the yellow one and Knuckles found the green. Don't bother with those colors." He then turned and yanked his gloves off of his hands, shoving them into the heap. Long moments passed before he pulled them out again. He shook his head grimly.

The minutes ticked by, each using their own techniques for sleuthing. The little one kept at his Emerald-on-the-chest gambit while his older self just shoved his whole body into the piles. The reasoning behind this was simple: the elder was more in-tune with the positive energies of the Emeralds, having come into contact with them more than his younger self. His whole body practically vibrated when he was near an Emerald, so any piece of him coming in contact with one of the all-powerful gems would send his blood racing. Mini-Sonic however, could only rely on his heart to be accurate, but he still moved as quickly as he could.

When approximately three minutes had passed, Eggman cackled madly, drawing their attention. Both hedgehogs whipped their heads toward him, sweating dripping from their brows.

"Seems you're out of your league, Sonic!" The human laughed, leaning back in his chair. "Since I love a good gamble like anyone else, I've decided to let you talk to your echidna friend for thirty seconds. How's that sound?" He laughed again, pressing a button. The screen flickered and two red forms wavered into existence. They were tied to chairs, as per Eggman's promise, and seemed to be unharmed.

"Sonic!" Both echidnas barked. "Don't waste time on touching every one!"

The hedgehogs stared at them inquisitively.

"You are a Chaos Adept." The older Knuckles took up the instructions. "You can sense the Energies in the air if you try hard enough. You just need to _concentrate_. Sit down, close your eyes, and _feel_. It's the only wa-!" He was cut off as the screen flickered back to Eggman's large face.

"Time's up!" The human sang. "You have two minutes left."

Sonic shared a look with his younger self before sighing and dropping to the ground. He crossed his legs in front of him and closed his eyes, casting his senses out. Sitting still went against every fiber of his being, but he forced himself to be motionless, his breath coming quickly. His ears tickled as they picked up a scratching sound on the other side of the wall right behind him and he assumed that the echidnas were dragging their chairs around, trying to get free. His nose picked up a faint hint of oil and grease, and his brow wrinkled.

Forcing himself to ignore all of those stimuli, he delved deeper, letting his mind free. Somehow, his instincts took over and he felt – rather than sensed – the Chaos Energies swirling around him, and he suddenly _understood_ what Tails was always going on about when he said that Chaos Energy was everywhere.

It was _everywhere_, the air, the metal beneath him, the wiring in the robots, even in Eggman himself. He could sense the positive Energy of the Knuckleses in the other room. They shone brightly in his mind as bright yellow sparks, surrounded by the neutral green of the ropes, the chairs, and the air. His younger self – seated inches from him – was an even brighter flare, and he was sure that if he had his eyes open, he would no doubt have been blinded by his natural radiance.

Somehow, he knew what the Emeralds looked like, bright pinpricks of rainbow – both positive and negative and so much _more_ – and he cast his mind out for them. His senses jumped over and through the piles of fake gems and he probed every single one until he was satisfied. He could feel his younger self doing the same now, their matching Energies mixes as their senses crossed paths. For milliseconds, he could sense the other's thoughts in his own head and he smiled to himself.

_Tails…_

_Gotta save…_

_Not real…_

_Not real…_

_Not real…_

Then, suddenly, realization, and understanding.

There were no _real _Emeralds here.

All of the stones that he brushed against let off a dark, negative signature that almost made him shiver every time he touched them. The dark Energy seeped into him nonetheless, now that his mind was open, and he began to feel cold as harsh reality crashed onto him.

Eggman had _tricked them._ All of these emeralds were fake.

Anger thrummed at his veins and he growled under his breath, feeling his fur bristle.

The game was rigged, unfair, and therefore impossible to win. Tails was as good as gone, if Eggman had his way. Sonic would never see his best friend again.

_No_.

Two pairs of eyes snapped open, one an emerald green and the other a dark unfeeling black.

"You've set Us up Eggman. You don't _have_ any real Emeralds." Two voices spoke together, but the power behind them made them deafening. The walls shook at the _power_ behind the voices.

To say that Robotnik was nervous was an understatement, but he didn't let that show on his face. "Ohohoho! So you've finally caught on then? ! Well, I guess that makes _me_ the winner of our little game!" He grinned cheekily, pressing a button. "Egg fighters, dispose of the children."

The picture on the screen changed, flickering to show the only still aware fox cub. The four year old was quivering against the wall, a gun pointed straight at his head. The sharp, high pitch of the laser charging filled the room, almost deafening the hedgehogs.

"_No."_ The word was said simply, but the robot on the screen froze, the Chaos Energies around it forcing it into immobilization. The one that spoke chuckled darkly, and his younger self realized that the Energies were reacting to his _will_.

Little Sonic was rocked down to his core, and he whipped his head toward his older self, his eyes widening as they beheld what had to be both a miracle and an apocalypse at the same time.

All of a sudden, the room grew dark, a mysterious wind kicking up and blowing so fierce that the smaller hedgehog was almost thrown off of his feet. An incredibly strong feeling swept over him as some of the weaker 'Emeralds' shattered, a light glassy sound echoing in the din. The artificial power that was held within each fake pulsed brightly in a spasmodic rhythm before expanding outward in an incorporeal explosion of dark energy. Standing- no, _floating_ in the ground zero area, the cracked and ominously cheerful Emerald shaped crystal shards suspended in the air playing a dangerously jovial tune as they crumbled and fell against the floor, was none other than the older incarnate of Sonic, the taller and thinner hedgehog engulfed in the cold and deadly grips of a sharp, black aura. The air was chilled, low enough to cause frostbite, yet the dark blue one seemed to revel in the feeling, nuzzling the sinister sensation with an almost lustful expression, obviously drunk on the power, yet completely self-aware.

The smirk on his face was cruel, cunning… downright sick with malice. He raised an ungloved hand and snapped it into a fist, seemingly causing his inevitable transformation. The light peach color of his fur gave the impression of draining from his very skin, his arms, belly, and muzzle paling almost as rapidly as his quills and fur were darkening. The sheer ethereal energy caused the hedgehog's quills to both raise slightly and split, giving them a treacherous and ragged appearance. What perhaps shocked the small live audience of one, however, was the other's eyes. All color fled from visual perception, the regularly strikingly emerald pools of emotion and soulful windows now nothing more than white voids of eternal miserable anger. His form wrapped in black and his face deeply shadowed, Sonic had turned Dark; it was a terrifying yet undeniably beautiful disaster that promised things would never be the same.(*)

"I told you to stay away from Tails, human." Dark Sonic sneered, malice dripping from the words as they escaped from his mouth. "Don't you remember what I told you on Planet Wisp?" He paused, as if he had all the time, the darkness hanging around him tangible and spreading through the whole room.

Little Sonic felt it touch him and he recoiled, yanking his foot away from the tendril of darkness that tried to wrap around his leg. However, the darkness was faster, and it lashed around his leg, digging into the Chaos field surrounding him.

Suddenly, he understood _why_ his older self was so angry, and that same anger crept into his system. It was hot and fierce and it lanced through his brain, almost felling him. But then, a whimper sounded and his ears pricked. He jerked his head up and caught sight of his little brother, staring into the camera, filled with more fear than Sonic had ever seen on his face before. More fear than when he first saw Robotnik, more fear than when he thought Sonic had drowned in Chemical Plant.

And, he was scared… of _him_.

"I told you never to lay a hand on him again, human." Dark Sonic was laughing now, his low sinister baritone rumbling with his soulless mirth. "I _warned_ you." He smiled sickly then, showing off his canine teeth. "Now, you must pay. You have harmed the one closest to me." Then, he was gone, a single, perfectly round hole in the wall the only testament to his departure.

The camera showing Eggman's face flashed once, Dark Sonic's cackle the last thing transmitted before the whole thing went black.

* * *

><p>*A big thank you goes out to Yami-sama42, who was kind enough to use her superior description skillz to help me with (<em>see: write completely<em>) with these sections! This ficlet would _not_ be as good as it is without you!

* * *

><p><em>To be continued in "There Will Be Death"…<em>

_Review please?_


	20. There Will Be Death

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"There Will Be Death."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Conclusions are not the end, simply the beginning of something better.

* * *

><p>Darkness is not evil.<p>

Darkness is merely the absence of light. It conceals, hides, and masks us from the harsh realities of life. It releases inhibitions, making reservations completely obsolete by blocking our behavior from view. The darkness protects us from prying eyes. Why else would we feel safe turning our most venerable sides to the dark when we are asleep?

Light, on the other hand, throws everything into the sharp truth. There is no hiding in the light. Light hurts us with its forced truth, and makes it impossible for us to mend problematic situations. If you prefer the light, then you are one of pure heart, unable to lie or handle the cruel veracity that it casts on all aspects of our lives. Darkness is present in every living thing, and it enables us to ignore the negative things.

In some, that darkness is bottled up, unable to escape for fear of uncontrollable actions. However, when that darkness is released, there is no turning back. There is no reset button, no life counter; there are only split second decisions and instincts.

This is where our story continues from. This moment of indecision that occurs before that life-altering moment. It is a fleeting second, but it changes everything.

It is up to the Darkness and Light to decide how the instant turns out. The battle of light and dark inside one's soul is mind-blowing and almost incapacitating, unless you are one of strong will.

Like Sonic the Hedgehog.

Dark Sonic smirked in Eggman's direction, his jagged quills quivering with the sustained energy of the fake Emeralds. His eyes beheld no color, yet seemed alive with emotions – both negative and positive. He was angry, upset, temperamental, and above all else, livid, but he was also concerned, worried, and almost remorseful.

But, those latter emotions were ephemeral, and they were gone with a blink of the hedgehog's lids; replaced with still more anger. He was feeding his frustrations, making himself stay in this super-charged form.

"Now, _Soni-_!" Dr. Robotnik tried to speak, but Sonic cut him off with a well placed fist to the throat, effectively choking off his words.

"You dare to speak to me directly human?" The dark being cackled, watching as the evil man slithered down into a sitting position out of shock. The shadowy hedgehog remained where he was, seemingly floating a few inches off of the ground. "I am in no way your equal. You have no authority to try to speak down to me." He paused, examining the man before him. "In fact, you have no authority to speak to anyone anymore." His smile was possibly one of the sickest things Eggman had ever seen.

"Wait, Sonic!" The doctor tried again, against all of the voices in his mind screaming at him not to. "Don't you want to know where I'm keeping your precious foxes? !" It was his last card, and he laid it out for Sonic to take, but if it kept him alive…

Dark Sonic chuckled, sending waves of shivers up Eggman's backbone. "I already know where they are, _doc_." The hedgehog floated toward the man, stopping a few mere feet from him. "North east corner of this base."

The human looked dumbfounded for the first time in years and he stared up at Sonic with wide eyes. _Did this new Super form enable him with some type of mythical foresight_…? He shook his head, wracking his memories and dismissing the impossible thought before attempting to figure out how the hedgehog could have possibly know. There had been no signs in the video feed from the foxes. Unless… His eyes widened even more.

"That fox is smarter than I give him credit for…" He mumbled under his breath, finally realizing what Sonic had been staring at while he had been explaining the tight spot the fox kits had gotten themselves into. "Morse code…" He tired to chuckle, but was cut off when an ungloved hand latched itself around his throat.

"You will never speak about or touch Tails again, Ivo Robotnik." The hedgehog said simply, lifting the large man out of his seat like he weighed nothing. Eggman grasped Sonic's hand in an attempt to get the Mobian to loosen his fingers, but that just made the speedster smile darkly and tighten his fingers enough to constrict his airway completely.

While the human gagged and tried to catch his breath, Dark Sonic stared into his eyes, still smiling. "There is a certain way your kind dies, Robotnik." The hedgehog began, smirking. "The light goes out of your eyes, but you still struggle. You are a resilient bunch, but you are obsolete. You fear our species; Mobians are the future of our planet, but your people are too afraid to see that." He chuckled, loosening his hand just enough for the human to suck in a breath. "I'll have to fix that." The dark hedgehog brought the evil man closer so he could see each individual fur on his dark blue head. "Starting with you."

"_No_."

Dark Sonic didn't turn, but he did tense up at the young, familiar voice. "Welcome Other-Sonic." He greeted coldly, clenching his left fist tightly at his side. "Have you come to help me right a wrong?"

"No." The little one said again, appearing at the dark one's right side. He reached up and grabbed the shadowy arm of his older counterpart, yanking it away from Eggman with almost-supernatural strength. The human crashed to the ground, choking and gagging. "The wrong that needs to be righted is _you_." Pulling on the arm he had a hold of, he forced the other hedgehog to turn and look at him. "Get in control of yourself, Sonic." He commanded. "Or I will be forced to control you myself."

The sinister chuckle that escaped from the dark being rocked the little hedgehog to the core, but he gritted his teeth against the cold shiver that wormed its way through him. "Do you really think you can control me, little one? You are too small, too _good_ to understand the energy I posses."

"That may be the case." Sonic conceded, nodding slightly, staring straight into the white depths of his older self's eyes. "But that doesn't mean that I can't see the good still inside of you." He placed a hand over his heart, pressing his gloved digits into his light blue fur. "I can feel it, in _here_. We're the same person, and I can't possibly believe that I can lose all of the good that I've worked so hard for." He paused, sighing heavily. "We aren't a killer, Older-me."

Dark Sonic laughed again, actually going so far as to throw his head back. His laugh was laced with anger and frustration, but was still menacing; it was a laugh of an individual with no inhibitions, one who would do anything to get what he wanted. "This is a war, Other-Sonic." He crowed between spells of mirth. "There _will _be death."

"Not if we can help it." A young voice spoke from behind Dark Sonic and the hedgehog choked off mid-laugh, whirling around, his white, soulless eyes widening a fraction of a centimeter.

Tails, with the help of Knuckles, stumbled his way into the room, tailed closely by the younger selves of himself and of the echidna, all three hovering protectively around him, like they expected Dark Sonic to lash out at him. The fox was almost unrecognizable, his fur caked with dirt and blood, and he was limping slightly, favoring his left leg, but his blue eyes were bright and clear. They stared down Sonic, passing silent judgment on the one that he looked up to.

"You will not become what you fight so hard to stop, Sonic." The fox spoke again, his voice weak. He leaned against Knuckles, using the echidna's strength to fuel his own actions. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Dark Sonic's face softened for half a second, just long enough for Tails' eyes to light up with hope. However, a crash from behind them – the sound of a chair being knocked over as Eggman tried to scramble away from the Mobians – caught the hedgehog's attention and he whipped around, his expression darkening again. "Where do you think you're going, human?" He spat, advancing toward the man as he tried to scuttle backward on his hands and feet. "We've only begun our little gam-!"

He was cut off by a well placed foot. Mini-Sonic, out of desperation, had zipped around his older self and cracked the other hedgehog in the jaw with his sneaker, effectively halting his advance toward his overweight adversary.

Dark Sonic reeled back, clutching his mouth, his eyes smoldering. He set a glare at his younger self, his expression somehow more sinister than before. The younger hedgehog was staring at his foot, attempting to figure out when exactly it had grown a mind of its own, before yanking his dark eyes up toward the white ones of his older self. He gulped to himself, ignoring the throbbing in his own jaw, wishing to Chaos back and forth that he could take back what he had just done.

"That was a mistake." Dark Sonic scolded, his fists tightening. "But, I cannot hurt you." His expression resigned, he turned back to Eggman. "_You,_ however, I can harm." He started his slow advance toward Eggman once more, smirking as the human began to try to get away once more.

Sonic had almost reached his target when a spiked fist slammed into the side of his head, sending him flying toward the opposite wall. He slammed into the partition, knocking a huge hole in it. Once the smoke cleared, all the others could see was a dark crumpled form amongst the rubble.

"He was getting on my nerves." Younger Knuckles remarked, fist still extended.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Tiny Tails asked, wringing his hands.

"He'll be fine." The older fox responded, his voice cold. "He's had worse. Maybe it'll knock some sense into him."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did darkness flare from the collapsed form. Dark Sonic rose into the air, seething, and he crossed the room in half a millisecond, slamming his ungloved fist into the younger Knuckles' gut, sending the echidna across the room and through the wall in an almost exact replication of what had just happened to him. Knuckles hit the ground groaning and covering his stomach, coughing harshly.

"Or he'll just get worse." Tails remarked, shoving Knuckles toward his younger self. He sat down slowly, unable to stay standing without the echidna's help and set his older brother with a glare.

"What the _hell_? !" Little Sonic sputtered, his hands clenching into fists. He rounded on his older self, practically spitting. "Knuckles is our friend! How _dare_ you hit him!"

"Some friend." Dark Sonic snorted, somehow rolling his white eyes. "He's useless anyway. Can't do anything besides sit in front of an Emerald and pretend at protecting it."

That one comment, contrite as it was, sent Mini-Sonic over the edge and he set his teeth, growling under his breath. "You're not Sonic." He spat through his teeth. "Sonic would never punch someone on his side. Sonic would never threaten to kill an entire race of people because one person pissed him off. _Sonic_ has control of his emotions. _I_ am Sonic. You are nothing but a coward hiding behind supernatural powers." Sonic set his fists level with his eyes, spreading his feet into a fighting stance. "And Sonic doesn't let others hurt his friends." He declared, keeping a vigilant eye on the Tailses. The younger was helping the older scoot backward toward safety. Eggman was nowhere to be seen, obviously having escaped while Dark Sonic had been incapacitated.

Instead of being intimidated, like Sonic had hoped, the dark hedgehog only laughed. "Just because I can't hurt you doesn't mean that you can beat me in a fight. You are weak and I can end this without even touching you." So saying, he threw out his hand, and a tendril of darkness – small and almost insignificant compared to the large pieces that hovered around the Mobian eagerly – snaked its way toward the smaller hedgehog. It licked at his heel, testing the small one's Chaos field. Mini-Sonic stared down at it with a blank expression before sighing and stomping down on it.

The darkness reared backward unexpectantly, snapping back to its master. Dark Sonic stared at it, almost dumbfounded, before setting a glare on his younger self. "Ah, I have forgotten what a strong will I possess." He hummed. "The darkness is strong though and you are already weakening, being so close to me."

The young one shook his head, looking down at his feet and clenching his hands into fists. "You mistake weakness with compassion." He looked up toward his older self, his eyes a blazing green. "Compassion makes me susceptible to emotions, but it makes my soul strong." His quills were glowing slightly, spiking out further. "And a strong soul is all that's required to drive away the darkness."

With those final words, the small hedgehog seemed to levitate into the air. Dozens of the fake Emeralds, now glowing in positive colors, rose and surrounded him in a tornado of multi-colored crystal. They spun, blurring into each other, and their energy – bright sparks of gold – slowly seeped away and into the small hedgehog in the middle of their storm.

The Emeralds, having been depleted of their natural negative energies, had reacted differently than the real Chaos Emeralds would have. Instead of just disappearing into energy-like states like the genuine gems, they simply tried to fill themselves with energy again. However, Dark Sonic had gagged the air of negative energy and the stones had had to turn to the next best thing: the fleeting positive energy the hedgehog had given away with his transformation. The result was a decidedly less explosive change in a blue hedgehog's body.

A bright golden aura expanded and enveloped the entire area around the miniature version of the hedgehog that was now shielding his face from the blinding light that was assaulting his eyes. The fake emeralds were spinning and twisting wildly in the air as they were once again drained of all of their energies. The small being in the center of the action started to turn an electrifying golden color that shone like the sun at its apex in the sky. His eyes were a shocking emerald green that bore into one's soul as well as filled them with an unspeakable peace. Unlike his older counterpart, the small one released a fleeting, ethereal atmosphere that was all at once warm and untouchable. The wispy power that wrapped around him filled the air with a serene overtone that literally sizzled as it came into contact with Dark Sonic.

It was a battle of light versus Dark, Super versus Sonic.

"No…" Dark Sonic choked, his dark tendrils of energy being batted back with ease by the pure light of the younger. "That's impossible."

"You should know better, older-me." Super Sonic replied, floating inches off the ground. "Nothing's impossible for me."

As if by some invisible signal, the two hedgehogs charged toward each other and smashed together at full force, head-butting until they were nose to nose. Each pushed against the other, shoving their counterpart backward a few inches before the other regained those same inches and then some.

After thirty long seconds of this, Dark Sonic cracked a grin. "Seems we're equal in power, younger Sonic. Strange, isn't it?"

They slammed apart, sending a shockwave of power throughout the room, sending two small golden forms on the ground heads over tails with small yells. They rolled across the ground, both groaning, and the Sonics locked on to them, green eyes crossing paths with soulless white for half a second.

Super Sonic was across the room in a second, zapping in front of the foxes to protect them from the gaze of the other. Dark Sonic dropped to the ground at the sight of the injured foxes, gripping his head. "T-Tails…" He muttered, his eyes snapping back to a dark green color for half a second. His ungloved hands dug into his dark fur, yanking so hard it seemed he would pull it out. His quills quivered, their split ends trying to come back together and the darkness fled for half a second. "I'm s-sorryy_yyy_-" The word faded away before it could be completely finished and turned almost wholly into a dark cackle.

"You _shut up_!" Dark Sonic yelled again, rocketing back into the air, his body and eyes returning to what they had been before. His voice was forceful, and seemed to almost shake the foundation of the whole building.

"S-Sonic?" Tiny Tails called, eyes wide as he scrambled to his feet painfully. He looked up at the shadowy being floating feet above him, his dark eyes quivering with unused tears. "Are you okay?"

"_Sonic_ isn't here." Dark Sonic spat, rounding on the small fox. The little one fell backward in fright, letting out a small squeak. "The Sonic you know is weak, locked in his own mind. It has only taken the energy of a few fake Emeralds to release me." He laughed lowly. "He is too _compassionate_," he spat the word "to stay-!" He was cut off by a gruff voice.

"Yeah, it took about five hundred fake Emeralds to let you out. I'm pretty sure that Sonic had you locked away pretty tight, you weakling." Knuckles spat from where he had stumbled into the room with his younger self half dragged behind.

"I thought I was rid of you," Dark Sonic said instead of rising to the echidna's taunt. "Guess I'll have to finish what I started." He grinned sadistically, turning to charge the guardians, but a gold form slammed into him, throwing him in a perpendicular direction.

Super Sonic turned to his friends, his eyes half-wild and his chest heaving with the exertion of remaining in this form. The fake Emeralds weren't even close in energy level to the real ones, so he was already sapping into his own energy to stay in his Super form. "Knuckles!" He yelled, trying to speak as quickly as possible before his older self recovered. "Take Tails and get out of here!"

"But, Soni-!" The older Tails tried to retort.

"No buts Tails!" Super Sonic replied, his voice forceful. Tails flinched a bit, biting his lip. He knew this Sonic. This was the Sonic from Westside Island; the one who was on edge every minute of every day, ready to be attacked. This was the Sonic that didn't take no for an answer, even from his best friend.

This Sonic was unstoppable.

Tails sighed, recognizing a losing battle, and struggled to his feet unsteadily. "Let's go guys."

Knuckles looked dumbfounded. "But Tails – Sonic…"

The fox shook his head. "This isn't our fight anymore." And with that, he reached a hand out of his younger self. The kit latched onto it like a life-line and helped to get his older persona stable on his feet before guiding him out of the room.

Knuckles sighed, allowing his own smaller counterpart to throw his arm over his shoulders so he could help him limp out of the room. "I don't like this." The younger mumbled, his dark eyes going every which-way. "It feels wrong."

Knuckles grimaced back. "I know, but we need to trust Sonic."

"Which one?"

"Both of him."

They passed the foxes easily, sliding past them as Super Sonic turned to meet the recovered Dark Sonic. The explosion from the impact of the two hedgehogs rocked the room and they stumbled a bit, but recovered quickly, turning to make sure the kitsunes were following.

They weren't. Both were staring at the battling forms of their older brothers, their eyes wide and troubled. The younger looked worried for his older brother while the thirteen year old simply looked conflicted. _His_ older brother was the bad guy this time. Though, if what they had all just heard was true, then it wasn't really Sonic to blame.

What was happening with Sonic wasn't that uncommon, Knuckles mused to himself. Every single person touched by Chaos had a dark side. Most, like Shadow for example, let it out, but others like himself and Tails, released it in small bursts of anger or mischief. Sonic however, kept it all bottled away, waiting to burst. Pair that with the fact that he was extremely Chaos adept – to the point that he could see the Chaos Energies – and it wasn't surprising to him that the darkness became sentient. The Master Emerald could probably get rid of it with one touch, but only when it was dormant and sleeping.

Now would not be the ideal time to drag Sonic up to Angel Island.

"C'mon kids," Knuckles rumbled, placing a hand on the four year old fox's shoulder, "let's get out of here." The younger came easily enough, but the elder stalled, staring after the battling hedgehogs, his blue eyes reflecting the Chaos blasts now pelting the room.

"Mechanic?" Tiny Tails questioned, pulling on the larger gloved hand wrapped around his own. "What's wrong?"

The thirteen year old shook his head. "I need to tell Sonic something." He paused, contemplating. "He needs to hear it."

"What is it?" The kit asked, eyes huge.

The elder smiled for the first time in ages. Patting his younger counterpart on the head, he turned back to the hedgehogs just in time to see Super Sonic slam his open palms into the twenty year old chest of Dark Sonic. The shadowy hedgehog slammed into the wall almost two yards away from them, crippling the metal and sending a small shockwave through the barrier. Tails' fur stood on end as he stumbled toward his elder brother, his three friends too shocked to stop him.

He managed to make it to the side of the person that had practically raised him and he grasped the ungloved hand of the still dazed Dark Sonic. Staring into the white eyes of his best friend, he smiled kindly.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but I forgive you."

Then, he was gone, picked up by the older Knuckles and dragged bodily out of the door.

Super Sonic watched the exchange with wide eyes. His feet barely brushing the ground, he flew over to his Dark counterpart, looking down at him, trying to see if Tails' declaration had changed anything. Dark Sonic was twitching and strange high pitched noises were breaking free of his throat. His whole body was shivering, his hands shakily reaching up to reach for his head, his eyes clenched shut, and his mouth caught somewhere between a silent scream and a smirk.

Super Sonic floated nearer, inching as close as he dared. He peered down at his older counterpart, nearly on top of him now.

Suddenly, a dark hand shot out and grabbed Sonic around the throat, hoisting him higher into the air as Dark Sonic peeled himself away from the wall. The shadowy hedgehog was laughing, yanking his adversary toward the middle of the room. "You put up a good fight." He said to his younger captive. "But you are no match for the darkness you have suppressed for so long. Even now, as Super charged as you are, you cannot defeat me. You _will not_ defeat me, because you're too _compassionate_." He spat out the word liked it was poison. "You cannot bear to harm another living being; that's why this war with Eggman still goes on. You refuse to kill him, so he will just continue to kidnap and hurt innocent people. You are weak."

"Weakness comes from taking the easy way out." Super Sonic argued back, using his minimal air to retort sharply. "Killing someone is easy; letting them live and giving them a second chance is hard." He paused, weighing each of his words. "That's what Tails gave you, a second chance. He's a smart kid; I think I'll follow his example." And with that, he swung his leg around, twisting his body so it could go almost all the way around the older's quills, clipping Dark Sonic on the back of the skull, right at the nape of the neck.

The other hedgehog reared back, losing his grip for half a second. Super took advantage of this and pushed himself away, gasping for breath.

Dark Sonic landed on the ground, his body crumpled into itself, his quills almost drooping. His eyes were rolled back in his skull and the color seemed to be seeping away from his body, as if the darkness had lost its foothold in his brain. His body lost its rigidness, and he seemed to almost relax into himself. His quills fused back together and he groaned rolling over onto his back.

Suddenly, his eyes snapped open and Super was relieved to see them back to their normal green color. He landed next to his older self, dropping down next to him. Placing a hand on the forehead of his elder self, he smiled happily. "You're back."

"Younger-me…" Sonic replied, his voice cracking. "Run. Get out. He's fighting. He's angry. One last blast. Go!"

Super Sonic blinked, uncomprehending, and he shook his head. "What're you talking about, Older-me? We need to get you out of her-!"

"It's too late!" The older hedgehog yelled, his voice hysterical. Somehow, he pushed himself to his feet and he grabbed onto the arms of his younger self, yanking him down to the ground. Throwing himself on top of the small body of the ten year old, he screamed as the dark energy hiding inside of him exploded out of the quills on his back. His scream was primal and insane, something his younger self had never heard before. In an effort to help ease his elder self's pain, the younger pushed his own excess energy out into the air, feeling the positive energy crackle against the negative.

The force of the positive power forced the negative toward the ceiling, where the two opposites danced dangerously, igniting the air.

The last thing the smaller hedgehog felt was his older personality's body droop into unconsciousness. One second later, the world turned white as the energies finally tried to get rid of each other.

o0o

Sonic was used to hospitals. Between nearly broken ankles, bruised tails, one case of stitches for Tails, and other odd injuries that came with being a hero and a daredevil, he had been in the emergency room so many times, he was pretty sure the hospital staff at Station Square Medical knew him on a first name basis.

Or, they would, if he hadn't been a national icon anyway.

But, he never liked it when he woke up in a hospital, the smell of antiseptic tight in his nose and his arms bandaged all the way up to his elbows, with no idea how he got there. There was something tapped under his nose, and something clamped on his right, ungloved index finger. His eyes were crusted over and there was a weight sitting almost uncomfortably on his chest. His brain swam, trying to figure out how exactly he had gotten there.

When he finally managed to wrestle his eyes open – after about fifteen minutes of trying – he was greeted with white, generic ceiling tiles, and a small blue trim of wallpaper. The weight on his chest shifted a bit and his hand instinctually rose to rest on it. His ungloved fingers dug into the soft fur and he smiled a little before trying to coax his head to look down.

Tails had his head cradled in his arms, the appendages pressing slightly into Sonic's abdomen. He was breathing deeply, obviously asleep, but when Sonic's hand touched his head, his ears twitched a bit and his eyes blinked before he picked his head up. "Sonic?"

The hedgehog smiled, ignoring the bandages wrapped around the fox's skull. "Hey buddy," he coughed, trying to clear his clogged throat. "What's up?"

Tails looked at him with a guarded expression, his eyes calculating. "You don't remember?"

Sonic tried to keep the annoyance in his mind off of his face, but he didn't think he succeeded. "Last thing I remember is you getting hit upside the head." He said simply, his expression softening. "How are you feeling, by the way?"

"I'm better now that I've been looked at by the doctors." He turned his head toward the door, as if watching for those that he spoke of. "You're _sure_ you don't remember anything?"

Sonic huffed, crossing his arms. "Does a chili dog have cheese on it?" He replied, rolling his eyes.

"Oh." Tails replied shortly, sitting up fully in his chair. Jerking slightly, he rose from the chair before walking to a window that Sonic hadn't noticed and yanked open the curtain. Sonic craned his neck to see and he smiled brightly.

Outside, there was a small courtyard. It wasn't large, but it was just big enough for Sonic and Tails – the younger ones – to run around and perform some complicated maneuvers. It was a regular exercise routine, Sonic recognized, one he had used for years to stay fit when he had a small space and had to stay in that same place for a while, but one that was demanding and over-exerting all the same. Some of the nurses were standing around the courtyard, watching with awe on their faces.

"They're okay then." Sonic remarked, grinning in satisfaction as his younger self successfully performed an air boost. "How'd I get here?" He asked, turning back to Tails.

Tails responded carefully, weighing each of his words. "Older Knuckles carried you."

"How did you I get knocked out?"

Tails' expression shut down and he turned back to the window, watching as his younger self grabbed the hands of Mini-Sonic and threw him into the air. "They're going to forget, you know."

Effectively distracted, Sonic's brow wrinkled. "What'd you mean?"

"I don't remember this, do you?" The fox asked, turning back to Sonic, and waving his hands towards Sonic's prone form in the bed.

"Of course I don't." Sonic answered, staring at the piece of machinery clamped to his finger. "We never went back in time."

"Yes we did." Tails answered, gesturing back at the window. "If they're here, we were once here too, with ourselves." He sighed and dropped back into his chair. "They're going to forget everything, because _we_ did."

"Maybe, but we end up okay anyway." Sonic replied, scratching at his quills. "Just because we don't remember every little thing that happens to us doesn't mean they don't affect us."

"Yeah but," Tails answered, "if we've forgotten all of _this_," he waved his hands around himself for emphasis, "then who knows how much other stuff we've forgotten?"

Sonic shuddered suddenly, his heart twinging at the thought. "Some things are better left forgotten."

Tails mulled that over for a time, nodding to himself before leaning back in his seat. He looked like he was just about to speak when a soft knock came and a young nurse stuck her head into the room.

"Oh good," she hummed, running a hand up and down the fur on her arm, "you're awake. I'll tell the doctor." She turned to leave. "You'll have to leave now, dear." She said to Tails, smiling kindly. "Let me show you to the waiting area?"

Tails shook his head, grinning back. "Nah, I'll just go outside. I could use some sun." He turned back to Sonic, setting him with a stern expression. "They're gonna test your memory. Don't give them smart aleck answers and you'll get out of here quicker."

Sonic held up his hands. "No promises." He answered, smirking, his eyes glowing. Tails nodded, getting up and pushing the chair against the wall. "Oh and Tails?" Sonic continued. "Thanks for letting me forget."

Tails nodded. "Anytime, big bro."

* * *

><p><em>Plot tier 1: Complete<em>

_Time taken: 20 chapters_

_Crap. I'm screwed. _

_Another big thank you goes out to Yami-Sama42 for helping me with the fight scene. It wouldn't be as amazing as it is without you._

_Next time:_ Call No Man Happy Before He Dies – Eggman contemplates his options.

_And now I'm off to fight that giant dancing Iblis fire worm of loading screens and donttouchits. Happy New Year!_

_Review please?_


	21. Call No Man Happy Before He Dies

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Call No Man Happy Before He Dies."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Now for a change of pace!

* * *

><p>Dr. Eggman was not a complicated individual. He wanted the simple things, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as his grandfather once quoted. It was some old human ideal, from a long time ago, but the young Robotnik had taken it to heart every time he read his grandfather's memoires. He just wanted to live happily, wanted his liberty expressed, and he was going to pursue this happiness by any means necessary.<p>

And if he had to trample a few animals to do so, then so be it.

He enjoyed what he did. The simple act of coming up with new ways to make Sonic the Hedgehog's life a living hell was a favorite pastime of his and designing new robots to release on the planet filled him with an exhilaration that literally took his breath away every time he came up with something genius.

What he didn't like was when one of his robots felt the need to yell at him every time something went wrong. He put artificial intelligence in them for a reason; they needed to _use_ it.

"Doctor," Orbot floated up to his side tentively, slightly hiding its head under the table Eggman was seated at, "the dimensional transporter is charged and ready for final modifications…" It trailed off, looking at the blueprint resting on the table in front of the human. The robot's head cocked to the side; Eggman could practically see the cogs and wheels turning as he categorized and analyzed the swooping lines of the mechanical quills and the sharp connective joints. "Working on something for your captive, sir?"

"That's not important." Eggman barked, pushing the blueprint away. "Is Sonic still incapacitated?"

"Yes sir. The Eggpawns are moving him into position now."

"Excellent. I will be down there shortly."

o0o

When Sonic woke up, his head was pounding and his tongue was swollen in his mouth where he had bit down on it sometime while he was unconscious. It throbbed with every heart beat, making his eyes tear up and his head's hammering seem insignificant in comparison. His ankle was twisted, but it didn't hurt, meaning that he was free to run on it if he was careful. He opened his eyes to unfamiliar surroundings, darkness all around.

He sat slowly, shaking his head and blinking his black eyes owlishly. His ten year old body protested the movement, but he forced himself to stand anyway, bouncing on his toes to warm up his feet.

He was just about to set forward – at least, he _thought_ it was forward – when a bright light appeared behind him. Slowly, it got larger until it was almost on top of him. Suddenly a loud, mind-jarring sound came from the light, sending him dashing out of its way at the last second.

A huge truck screamed past him.

Sonic's eyes widened as another car honked at him and sped by, its driver waving his fist out of the window at the hedgehog. The speedster gasped, rushing out of the way and onto the sidewalk to get out of the traffic, bouncing over the heads of humans and siding around their feet.

"What's that? !"

"Is that Sonic? !"

"Not _again_!"

"Call the chief; we've got another hedgehog. This one looks younger than Sonic though."

A language he didn't recognize bounced over his head, the only word he managed to pick out his own name. His ears twitched as his brain categorized the odd sounds of the words, but his mind didn't need prompting to realize that most of the tones were unfriendly.

Speeding back onto the road, he bounced off the hood of a car to get a little momentum underneath him and he rushed forward, away from the humans. He ran up the highway, dodging around cars and taking quick turns to eventually get onto a less-congested roadway. There were construction workers on this road, but he just blasted right by them, ignoring their yells of shock.

He grinned back at the humans before turning forward once again, picking up a bit of speed and feeling the oppressing force of the sound barrier starting to lick at him. He was just about to break through when something to the right caught his eye.

It was a blue blur. He shook his head, forcing his eyes to focus and he nearly stopped running when he finally processed who was chasing him down.

It was himself.

Only it wasn't.

Sonic the Hedgehog was not unused to the idea of there being more than one of him. In fact, he had been living with an older version of himself for the past three months, but that didn't change the fact that he was still shocked speechless every time he saw a different version of himself.

_This_ Sonic wasn't his older self. Well, he was _older_ but not the twenty year old he had been hanging out with. This hedgehog was short, about as tall as the ten year old he was trying to flag down, but his eyes were green. His quills were large, bigger than the younger's and they seemed to swoop off to the right instead of straight back. He was a dark blue, darker than even the twenty year old.

Other than that, he was exactly what you expected from Sonic the Hedgehog: red shoes with buckles, white gloves, tan arms, muzzle, and chest.

The other hedgehog ran right at him, pulling level next to him. Sonic turned to face him and had to blink at the smile the other was giving him. It looked forced and almost-vain, like he was humoring the other he was running next to. "Chotto, osoku naru! Doko he iku no*?" The darker hedgehog asked the ten year old.

Sonic shook his head, his ears pricking on the unfamiliar language. With a sigh, he glanced forward to make sure he wouldn't run into anything before addressing the other. "_Mobian?"_ He asked hopefully in said language. When all he got was a blank stare, he sighed again. "English?" He tried again, switching to a language that most Mobians didn't know.

The other's eyes lighted and he nodded. "Yeah, I got you." He replied in kind. His voice was deep, like he had just passed through puberty, but not yet as developed as the twenty year old Sonic's. "Where're you headed, little dude?"

"Where ever this road takes me, I guess." Sonic shrugged.

The other cracked a genuine smile at that. "Well, this road is about to end. You might want to take a detour." Nodding forward, he indicated something in front of him. "This street only leads to an unhappy – and wet – ending."

Sonic jerked his head forward just in time to catch sight of the end of the freeway. It curved upward slightly and ended abruptly. If he ran over that at this speed… there was no telling how far he would go.

"Lead the way then." He conceded after five seconds of deliberation. "I'm Sonic, by the way." He offered up his name with the feeble hope that the other actually wasn't another different version of himself.

"Nice to meet you, Sonic." The other greeted, his face unreadable. "I'm Sonic." Turning slightly, the hedgehog dashed to the edge of the freeway, jumping over the cement barrier and onto the feeder road running parallel.

Sonic shook his head, wondering slightly just _how many_ versions of him actually existed, and followed easily.

o0o

Take a skip and a hop across about three dimensions – one of which was sideways and another that didn't contain any omnipotent hedgehogs at all – and you would happen across a twenty year old version of the very same hedgehog. He was waking in a manner very similar to his younger self.

Except he was in the middle of a forest instead of a busy street.

That in and of itself wasn't what made Sonic antsy. He had been in many a forest, and, despite the fact that they all looked the same to him, he was usually at ease in them. Forests offered trees that he could swing from, plants that he could dodge around, and feral animals he could use as an early warning system.

The birds _always_ flew away when a threat was nearby.

No, it was the overlaying smell of oil, the way ash seemed to plume under him with every movement he made, and the sense of foreboding that hung in the air.

This place was dead. The trees may have been thriving – with barely any sunlight streaming through the pollution choked skies – but the air carried a heavy feeling of decay and death. Sonic could feel his ears twitching and his fur bristling as he sat up. His senses were on high alert, the silence around him hanging heavy and thick.

He stood carefully, making sure that his feet planted firmly in the slippery ash covering everything. With a sigh, he leaned backward to pop his back once he was fully vertical. Once he had gotten the sound he was looking form, he shook his hands out – half in an attempt to loosen his wrists and half to get all of the dirt off of them – and started off in a random direction.

He didn't have to go far before he happened across at robotic patrol. They were SWATbots, version two – not very advanced and mind-numbingly slow. He sighed, ignoring the way his breath puffed out in front of him – it was easily only twenty degrees, but he was trying his hardest to not notice the temperature – and slipped away back into the tree line. The bots were clumsy, somehow managing to stumble into every tree they passed, so they made their way toward him slowly. He didn't bother attacking outright; instead letting them fall right into his trap.

When the 'bots eventually stumbled passed the tree he was hiding in, he easily launched himself off of the branch he was perched on. He slammed his right foot into the head of the first one. Feeling it crumple under the impact, Sonic swung his other foot around, clipping the other one in the 'face'. It went down seconds later as his whole body followed his foot in a well timed spindash.

The third and final robot, using the time it took Sonic to incapacitate its brothers, let out a loud wail, surely some type of alert. The obnoxious siren was silenced milliseconds later as Sonic crashed straight through its chest in a ball. Sonic landed on one knee as the 'bot exploded behind him.

With a slight huff, he stood fully, dusting his hands together. "Well," he hummed to himself, "I don't know where I am, but at least I know that the robots won't be a problem."

Humming some no-nonsense tune under his breath, he turned to continue in the same direction as before. The cold was slowly starting to seep into his bones now, making him shiver slightly. His green eyes scanned the trees easily, looking for any type of animal. So far, he hadn't seen a single squirrel or bird and that worried him some. If all of the feral animals were gone, then what about the actual _people_?

Rubbing his hands up his arms to help warm himself up, Sonic shook his head. His thoughts were getting a little too pessimistic for his liking, so he turned his attention to something else.

Namely, the crunching and mumbling sounds he heard coming from behind him.

"-swear the alarm came from this direction, Sonia."

"Manic, there's no one out here. There couldn't possibly have been an alert."

"But what if someone's hurt?"

Sonic shook his head, debating on whether he should hide in a tree again and let the hikers pass him by or just intercept them before they got too far into the forest. With a sigh, he trudged forward, making sure to keep his head down with the small hope that they wouldn't recognize him.

A blue hedgehog.

Shaking his head and rolling his eyes to himself, he passed that one off as the cold making his brain slowly freeze over and he picked his head back up.

The two people slowly making their way towards him were hedgehogs as well, a male and a female. The girl was pink – Sonic resisted the urge to twitch – and the boy was green. Both were clothed in huge coats along with gloves and scarves. The pink one looked impeccable, even in this harsh place. Her hair was perfect, her attire unscathed by dirt. The other was the totally opposite – jacket askew and his legs covered in mud up to his knees.

"Hey look!" The green called, pointing straight at Sonic. "There _is_ somebody out here!"

More crunching sounds as they ran toward him. Sonic mentally braced himself for the inevitable as they recognized him.

"S-Sonic?" The girl gasped as the two of them skidded to a stop in front of him, panting hard. "But I thought you were-!"

"Hang on Sonia," the boy cut across, crossing his arms over his chest and he stepped up at the blue hedgehog in front of him. "There's no way this can be Sonic."

To say the speedster was in shock would have been an understatement. _Not Sonic!_ He sputtered, attempting to think of something to say.

"His eyes are green. And he's way to skinny. And look at those shoes! They're too shiny to belong to our 'bro."

Sonic's face went flat. _So, they were 'those kind' of people. _His brain ticked as he comprehended the rest of the statement. _Wait…_ "Your 'bro?" He asked, coughing to clear his cold throat.

Both of the other hedgehogs jumped Both of the other hedgehogs jumped and stared at him, obviously shocked that he had spoken.

"Yeah…" The girl said timidly, shaking her head. "Sonic's our brother." Her eyes narrowed. "And you look just like him…" She held out a gloved hand, inching toward him. Her brother made a warning noise, but she just ignored him. She placed her palm on Sonic's chest, feeling his heart and nearly fell over backward. "Manic," she whispered, turning to look at the green hedgehog behind her. "His heart…" She nodded up at him.

Sonic felt his own eyes narrow and he resisted the urge to tap his foot. "Well," he popped his lips, "this has been fun, but I think I'm just gonna keep going. Can you point me toward the nearest city?"

The girl looked like she was about to respond, but something decidedly blue and spiky plowed into Sonic's back, blindsiding him and knocking him to the ground. The hedgehog got his feet back underneath himself quickly however, and he swept his left foot out in an attempt to knock his attacker to the ground as well. He smirked, satisfied, when a grunt met his ears.

He picked up his head just in the time to catch sight of a shocked expression. The face was young, with black eyes and for half a second, he thought he had facing his younger self. But then, he saw the strange looking medallion hanging around the other blue hedgehog's neck and he shook his face.

"How did you-?" The other began, but cut himself off, clenching his jaw shut. He whipped his head toward the green and pink adolescents. "Don't trust this guy." He commanded loudly as he stood, his expression dark.

Sonic rose as well, keeping his eyes trained on the smaller blue form of the other. He was short, shorter than the ten-year-old Sonic was used to being around, and his quills ran straight down his head and back in a line, instead of being clustered on his head and back in two rows. The medallion hanging around his neck was some sort of guitar with two necks; he couldn't stop staring at it.

"But Son-" The girl tried to speak, only to be silenced with a glare.

"No, Sonia." The other Sonic barked, hand instinctually raising to clutch his necklace. The female bristled at the command, but she didn't speak.

"Hey man," Twenty year old Sonic spoke, glaring at the other blue hedgehog. "I don't like the way you're talking to the lady."

"Oh, shut up." The other hedgehog spoke, his fist tightening around his pendant. "I don't know who you are and I'm really not in the mood to deal wit-!" He was cut off as Sonic – finally getting tired of his grating voice – charged at the small blue hedgehog, knocking him flat with a well placed hand to the chest.

The other sputtered before leveling his attacker with a glare, his hands finally tightening enough around his medallion to activate it.

With the sound of an extremely obnoxious guitar rip, said instrument sprang to life in the little hedgehog's hands with a bright flash of multi-colored light. The guitar was one of the strangest things Sonic had ever seen with the soft swoops of a hedgehog's quills on the end of the soundboard. The guitar itself was probably a guitar/bass combo, because of its two necks. The longer of the two necks was actually broken into two, further confusing the other hedgehog. He watched, dumbfounded, as the smaller hedgehog ran expert fingers over the strings, ripping through some scales. Once he was finished he smirked, turning a knob and leveling his attacker with a menacing glare. The now musically-equipped hedgehog curled his fingers toward the other in an open greeting of attack.

However, his opponent couldn't attack; he was too busy laughing.

o0o

Eggman was never one to snarl, though he did growl quite a bit.

His robots knew better than to be around whenever he growled, because it usually meant that whichever of them was closest to him would probably go sailing toward a wall or be smashed with a well placed wrench.

So when its master actually _snarled_, Orbot was halfway across the room in seconds, its programming making its survival more important than anything.

"_Orbot!_"

Unless it was given a direct order.

The small robot careened to a halt, raising its hands to help protect its face from attack. "Yes, sir?"

"_Where is Sonic?_" The man's face was red, livid. Orbot scooted backward a little more.

"Data says that we lost track of priority one hedgehogs when you stopped to watch the death of Sonic at the hands of Mephiles."

"And why did you let me watch that when you knew that we would lose Sonic's position in the temporal displacement?"

"You looked so happy, doctor…"

Eggman glared at his robot, snarling under his breath again. "Call no man happy before he dies, Orbot." He commanded, turning back to his computer. "Now get over here and help me find Sonic, or you won't see tomorrow."

Never had Orbot rushed so quickly to its creator's side.

o0o

Eggman sighed, as, two hours later, there was still no sign of Sonic.

He had checked every dimension that the hedgehog could have been transported to, from one where everything was made of strange geometric shapes, to another where everyone he knew – even Sonic himself – had been the opposite gender (that one had given him bad feelings and he had quickly switched to a different one). The most recent dimension he had checked was one where Sonic was nothing more than an alternate personality for a small hedgehog named Nick.

With a sigh, he rubbed at his eyes, pushing his glasses away for half a second. Glancing down at the robot at his side, he narrowed his eyes. "Find anything useful, Orbot?" He questioned, glaring at his small slave.

"I think I've locked onto a small Chaos signature matching Sonic's." It responded, fingers flying over the keyboard in front of it. "This dimension was hidden behind one facing the opposite direction, obscuring it from view."

"Which Sonic?" Eggman demanded.

"The younger, sir."

"Full screen."

"Right away, doctor."

The image on the screen flickered before settling on a large mansion. The camera zoomed through the walls and settled just inside the front door, where the ten year old incarnation of Sonic was standing next to a slightly older version of himself. He was staring at a large multi-colored cast of others, almost all of them having an incarnation in the doctor's own world. There was Tails, Amy, Cream, and Knuckles – though the echidna looked like he didn't want to be there – as well as two humans that the evil man didn't recognize, one a young boy and the other an old man.

The taller Sonic was explaining something to his friends, waving his arms toward the ten year old and Eggman crinkled his brow.

"Orbot." He commanded.

"Sir?"

"Pull him out. The dimensional transporter has failed. He was supposed to replace the other Sonic, not team up with him." Eggman sniffed. "We'll have to try again later."

"Shall I have the Eggpawns place him back into suspended animation?"

The doctor waved his hand. "Just put him in the low security cell. He'll break out within the hour, but I can't afford to waste resources on keeping him contained." He paused. "Let him get a good look at the dimensional transporter." His face was calculating and he tapped his fingers on the panel in front of him. "That way, he'll tell his little fox friend."

"But sir-"

"In fact," Eggman continued, his face lighting up as his brain clicked on a plan, "get the base ready for evacuation. Once we find the older Sonic, we're leaving."

"But why doctor?" Orbot had computed through every possible reasoning its master could have taken, and it was still confused.

"Because," Eggman's face was dark as he pressed a button on the desk. Behind him a giant tube rose from the ground, whatever was inside being obscured by smoke, "two Sonic the Hedgehogs is a problem, but if we leave the base, the fox will see the dimensional transporter and it will help him figure out a way to get the younger Sonic back to his own time." He cackled low in his throat, sweeping a hand toward the tube. "And then there will only be _one_ Sonic, against _two _Ivo Robotniks!"

Orbot turned and, if it was capable of such an action, it would have gasped. In the giant cryogenic cylinder that had just risen from the confines of the floor was another Doctor Eggman, this one younger looking, with a different outfit on, but still its master. The mustache, the smirk on the face… Orbot resisted the urge to cower behind its master.

"Begin awakening process." Eggman commanded, pushing another button. In the tube, the ice started to melt away. "Orbot, find the older Sonic. Pull him out. Place him in the same cell as his younger self. I will order the Eggpawns to begin evacuation."

o0o

"So, you're telling me that I'm a triplet." Three nods. "And we have a band." Three more nods. "And I'm a _prince_?" Nods from the triplets.

"Woah." Sonic sat back. "This is crazy."

"What about you?" The other Sonic asked, favoring his right foot as he walked over.

After Sonic's laughing spell had ended, the other hedgehog had tried to attack him with that guitar. He had been slightly surprised when a laser shot out, but he had dodged that easily, spinning right into the instrument-wielding hedgehog, sending him flying into a tree. His ankle had cracked against it, and the fight had diffused seconds later as the guitar disappeared.

"I'm solo." Sonic answered bluntly, laying back on the ground. "Well, I mean, I've got no family, besides this small fox kit. He's like my little bro, but not exactly blood related."

Sonia and Manic – his _siblings_ – looked a little taken aback at that. "You mean we don't exist where you're from?" Manic asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Dunno. You could. I've never met you though. Odds are, you're not related to me if you do."

Sonic sat up then, something in the pit of his stomach stirring. "Hey, you got any food? I'm starving."

Sonia laughed. "Well, he's defiantly Sonic."

"Yeah," Manic replied, "only you would be worried about food in the middle of nowhere like this!"

Sonic smirked, rolling his eyes. "Yeah well-" He cut off as the tug came at his abdomen again. "What the-"

He cut off as the world suddenly swirled around him and the three hedgehogs before him disappeared in a flash of black. _Ah, too bad_. He thought to himself as his mind started to shut down, the alarmed squawks of the other three hedgehogs the last thing he heard. _That was a pretty interesting world_.

His vision went dark completely.

After what seemed like seconds, Sonic opened his eyes again to unfamiliar surroundings. With a groan, he sat up, rubbing his head.

"You're awake." A slight accented voice welcomed him into the world of the living and he whipped his head toward the source. When his younger self met his eyes, he grinned. "Now we can get out of here." The little hedgehog gestured to a spindash'd hole in the bars meant to be holding them in the cell.

Sonic smirked, pushing himself onto his feet. "Eggman's not even trying, is he?"

Mini-Sonic shook his head. "Whole place is deserted, through there's a lot of energy being funneled into the middle of the base."

The older hedgehog nodded. "Guess we'll have to head there first. Who knows what we'll find?" He gestured at the hole. "You first, little me."

"Race ya to the Egghead!"

* * *

><p>*Google translate, probably wrong. "Hey, slow down! Where're you going?"<p>

* * *

><p><em>This one suffered from 'Hikari-didn't-plan-ahead' syndrome. That's why it's so choppy and awful. <em>

_You know I'm a daring (or just crazy) writer when I put four Sonics into one chapter. First time writing Sonia and Manic! WHOO-AH!_

_Announcements time!_

_My tumblr has been updated._

_With a rant. _

_Don't go read it if you're turned off by rants. _

_Which brings me to another issue I need to address (__**AGAIN. rageface**__)._

_I would like to remind my readers (for the like, fifth time) to not __**review**__ with comments about the __**notes**__. That is why there's a __**Private Messaging system (PM)**__ on this site. Writing reviews and only addressing the notes is a surefire way to get me to block you. I'm not kidding. I run a system. You do it, there goes your shot. Do it again and I'll block you. We good?_

_But please, if you're reviewing and you wrote all kinds of things about story (I liked the way you did _this_ but hated _this. This_ is good but you could do this to make it better!) and you feel like you need to tell me something about a note, go for it. Just __**don't**__ review only to comment on the notes. It jacks up the review count artificially and makes me upset. _

_Sigh. I'm getting tired of writing the same note over and over again and sounding so rude. _

_On that same tack, I would like thank all of my reviewers for your kind words! I don't think this thing would still be in progress with you. _

_I think that's it for announcements. _

_Have an awesome day!_

_Please review?_


	22. Don't Worry So Much

_.  
><em>

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Don't worry so much."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Since I've been so busy with _plot_ lately, let's focus on a simple brotherly relationship between a hedgehog and fox, shall we?

* * *

><p><em>"It is better to be in chains with friends, than to be in a garden with strangers."<em>  
><em>-Persian Proverb<em>

* * *

><p>Sonic the Hedgehog was used to running for his life, jumping over bottomless pits with only crumbling ledges to catch him, and walking through water with only scarce bubbles to keep him alive. He was resilient, had one of the thickest skulls ever, and was a quick thinker. He could calculate the speed and trajectory needed to slice himself through six inches of robot chassis, could figure out a way to save himself from deadly falls with only his homing attack at his disposal, and could even comprehend the speed of an explosion as it rocketed toward him. His brain was synonymous with a super computer, but not in the same sense. His mind was one of practicality, not intellect.<p>

He couldn't win a game of chess, but if you put him in front of a strategy video game, he could crack it with ease. His eyes were always bouncing around the room, catching slight imperfections in walls and windows, showing him easy exists if things got messy. His reasoning was hardwired for stratagem and he was always on his toes, ready to launching himself in any direction to protect those he cared about or to keep himself safe. His tongue was sharp, quick to slice a person in two if he wished, but also equipped to mumble encouraging words to those closest to him. He had a tough exterior and his bravado showed in almost everything he did, yet he was always tender and kind when dealing with his little brother or smaller children.

He was enigma wrapped in a riddle and tied together with a bow of false pretenses, yet he was one of the most transparent individuals one would ever happen across. He wore his emotions on his sleeve, but his expressions were always guarded.

Somehow, despite all of this, Tails could practically read his mind.

"Don't worry so much, Sonic." The thirteen year old told him as he walked into the room. The hedgehog was perched on the couch, lazing on his side to keep from slicing the furniture in two with his quills, with the remote control to the television clutched in his right hand. His thumb barely pressed the button and the picture flickered as the channels flipped from human to Mobian and back again. His shoulders were relaxed and his eyes were drooping, the picture of serenity, yet his mind was whirling with impossibilities and worst-case-scenarios. He quirked an eyebrow toward the fox nonetheless, trying to keep up the ruse even though the fox had seen right through him.

Sonic had stopped puzzling over Tails' innate ability to gauge his moods years ago, when he had been lying on the beach at their old house and the fox had moseyed right up and given him a hug. The hedgehog had been worried sick over Robotnik's next appearance and the kit had known exactly how to make him feel better despite the fact that Sonic himself hadn't really known he was upset.

Ever since then, Tails always seemed like he knew what to say, to the point that the hedgehog was seriously starting to believe that the fox could read his mind.

"They'll be fine," the blue eyed canine continued now, making his way across the carpet toward the kitchen. "It's just a simple reconnaissance mission. We've headed into more serious things."

Sonic sighed, watching the fox's slow progress with his eyes. Tails hovered in the doorway to the kitchen, not really in either room, and he watched the hedgehog's expression for minute changes.

"I know," the blue hero mumbled after a time, sitting up on the couch. He placed his hands on either sides of his legs, lowering his head to look down at his knees. "I can't help but worry though. We sent them off alone, into one of Eggman's death traps…"

Tails rolled his eyes then, letting out a sigh that puffed his bangs up and away from his eyes. "Rouge is with them, bro," he reassured, placing his hands on his hips while his tails whipped behind him agitatedly, "and I'm sure Shadow's lurking in the… shadows. He never really lets Rouge go into these types of things alone."

Sonic sighed again, pushing himself up from the couch and following his friend into the kitchen. "Yeah, but that's what I'm worried about. Shadow's… conflicted." He paused, catching sight of the fox's face. "Don't give me that look, kid." He said with a touch of command in his voice. "Shadow's lost his memory more times than I can count and I won't be surprised if it just goes one day and he turns on all of us." He dropped into a chair at the table while the vulpine made for the refrigerator.

"I dunno Sonic." He answered, opening the door and looking critically at the contents. "Shadow seems fond of the little you." This was said without pretense or pause and Sonic blinked at the brusque answer.

"I'm don't like the way you phrased that, Tails."

Tails picked his head up to give Sonic a flat look. "Totally not what I meant, and you know it." He rolled his eyes again, turning back to the still open the door. His eyes roved for a few seconds before he sighed and reached inside for a jug of apple juice. "Need to go to Station Square." He mumbled to himself, almost too inaudible for Sonic to hear. "Groceries reaching critically low levels."

"You talk to yourself like you're a computer program." Sonic remarked, propping his feet on the table and pushing backwards in the chair so the front legs were off the ground. "What did you mean then, lil'bro?" He changed back to the previous conversation path, his curiosity getting the best of him.

Tails paused, collecting his thoughts as he pulled a clean glass out of the cupboard and poured himself a drink. "I think your little self reminds him of Maria." He finally answered, looking down at his cup critically. "Juice?" He asked, indicating the jug.

Sonic waved him off. "You really think so?"

"Well, I haven't met the girl," Tails replied, "but from the way Shadow talks about her, I'm pretty sure that she was strong-willed and determined, but also compassionate to those in pain." Grabbing his drink and plopping down into the chair across from Sonic, Tails gave his friend a critical look. "Remind you of anyone?"

Sonic clicked his tongue, rolling the idea around in his mind. "But, I'm still like that now." The hedgehog argued back. "Why can't he stand _me_?"

The flat look Tails sent him had to have been practiced, it was so perfectly devoid of emotion. "Sonic," he breathed, tapping his gloved finger against his glass, "you have the tact of a brick wall. Which is to say, you smash your opinions into other people's faces without thinking about how they'll react." Sonic opened his mouth to argue, with the kit held up a hand to silence him. "I know it's a coping mechanism that you've developed, but your younger self isn't like that yet. He's still aware of those around him."

Sonic's expression dropped and he let his feet slide off of the table. The chair legs touched back down seconds later. He glared down the fox, his mind ticking over what he had just been told. Was he really that unaware of what he was saying that he plowed over the emotions of other- Wait a second.

His thoughts careened to a halt as he realized what Tails was trying to do. "Nice job, kiddo." Sonic remarked, leaning back in his seat again. "You've effectively distracted me."

Tails shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. "'S not that hard to do. You don't exactly have to the longest attention span."

Sonic didn't have anything to say to that, so he didn't reply. They sat in companionable silence for awhile after that, Tails taking small swallows of his juice every now and then and Sonic lost in his own thoughts. Eventually, Tails finished his drink and he got up from the table to wash the glass in the sink. Sonic's eyes followed him lazily, analyzing every nuance the fox had.

After a bit, his eyes narrowed and a small smile wormed its way onto his face. "Seems I'm not the only one that's worried." He said out of the blue. Tails didn't pause as he rinsed the cup, though his shoulders did tense a minute bit. "Your tails are lashing, kid. I'm scared to get too close; you might take my eye out."

The fox ran a towel over his glass before he turned to face the hedgehog, marking sure to drop the cup in the drying rack first. His eyes were slightly puffy as he looked at Sonic and the hedgehog was slightly taken aback at the expression on his face.

"Hey," he said soothingly, standing up and zipping to the fox's side. He threw his blue arm unceremoniously over the narrow shoulders of his charge and winked at him when he looked up. "They'll be okay." Sonic was struck by the sudden role reversal, but he shrugged it off. He had been worried; now it was Tails' turn.

The fox shook his head. "It's not that." He argued, sniffling slightly. "I can't believe that G.U.N. picked _them_ for this mission and not us. I mean, we're better equipped and we can handle ourselves better. My younger self… he's _four_. And he doesn't comprehend the danger he's getting himself into! He could get hurt… And it's all G.U.N.'s fault!"

Sonic felt a smile split his face and he squeezed his friend into a one-armed hug. Tails dealt with his emotions in weird ways, he reflected to himself. Instead of being outright worried for his four year old self, he transformed that emotion into a strong sense of betrayal and blame toward G.U.N. It was clever coping tactic, almost as constant as Sonic's run-over-other's-emotions gambit.

"You heard what Rouge said," Sonic said back, turning bending down so he was eye level with his friend. It was a small bow, not the complete take-a-knee he used to have to perform to look his smaller friend in the eye. Tails would soon be taller than him, he thought sourly. "They're more compact and can fit through the tight spaces better than we can. We're getting too big." He winked. "Guess we'll have to watch our weight from now on."

The fox chuckled, extracting himself from his friend. "Guess so." He sighed, blowing his bangs away from his face once again. "Why is it that we manage to worry about two very capable individuals, but never worry when we're facing certain death at the hands of an ego-centric human shaped like an egg?"

Sonic took his time with his answer, smiling at the irony. "Because, at the end of the day, _somebody's_ gotta worry about us. Even if we have to travel to the future to find _ourselves_ to do it."

Tails smiled, giving Sonic one more hug. "People call me the smart one," he began, speaking into Sonic's chest, "but you're way smarter than me. You always know what to say."

"Funny," Sonic smiled back, tweaking his little brother on the nose, "I always think the same thing about you."

o0o

Just as the sun was setting in the distance, the front door opened and two very tired individuals stumbled their way into the room. Both looked singed around the edges, and Sonic looked like he was going to be sporting a black eye in the morning, but other than that, they were no worse for wear. The little hedgehog fell onto the couch beside his older self, dark eyes locked on the television with a glassy stare. "We're back." He said after a beat of silence.

Little Tails dropped onto the floor next to his own elder persona, eyes glued to the small electronic parts strewn around the floor. He nodded when Sonic spoke. "And alive."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before the small hedgehog looked up at his older self. "You didn't worry, did you?"

Sonic shared a look with his little brother and he smiled down at his younger self. "Not at all."

* * *

><p><em>I like to get back to the simple things sometimes, you know?<em>

_It seems that every time I update this thing, I get more and more alerts and favorites but less reviews. Am I boring you? (Not that I don't appreciate the favs and alerts, but it seems more tangible when I get a review, ya'know?)_

_One __**important**__ announcement this time. The commentary for this story isn't going to happen yet. (It will eventually.) I'm simply too busy now that school's started back up and the commentary is showing signs of serious editing time. Because of this, I'm entertaining the idea of doing a few FAQ videos. You know, you ask me questions and I'll answer them type of deal? The questions can be about anything: this story, my inspiration, my life (within reason). I just want to get a more intimate way to talk to some of you, because a lot of my reviewers are anonymous and I can't reply to you directly. (There's a rule on this site that says that replying to reviews on your stories is a no-no and I don't want to risk it.) So, would any of you be interested in that? If you are, ask me something! The worst thing I can say is "I'm not comfortable answering that." ;D _

_Reviews are cherished. _


	23. Next Time, I Lead and You Follow

.

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Next time I lead and you follow."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> So after staring at the computer for about fifteen minutes with nothing coming out for this prompt, I glanced sideways and saw my cat Harleigh staring at me. We shared a meaningful look and suddenly, I _knew_.

Let's go back even further than the basics, shall we?

* * *

><p><em>Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.<br>-Marc Brown_

* * *

><p>Friendships evolve over time. They start out as simple things, someone you can play in the sandbox with or someone to gossip or hang out with, depending on your age. Friendships grow more as you spend time together, turning into matters of trust and forgiveness. You start to reveal the more important things about yourself: your fears, your desires, your opinions. You trust the other person to hold everything you tell them tightly and to never let go.<p>

Eventually, they morph into dependent things, a relationship of give and take, push and pull. You bond so closely with the other that you seem almost as one. You rely and lean on each other; issues of the heart and of the mind are inconsequential. You are friends, dependents, siblings, tenants in each other's souls.

Sonic and Tails' friendship was no different. It has evolved over time. However, it wasn't as conventional as all that – nothing ever is, when it comes to the hedgehog. They started as friends, yes, but then evolved into something more complex.

Sonic had been catapulted into the big brother role almost instantly. Tails almost completely dependent on him for safety and warmth, he had had no choice to put the fox's needs before his own almost like a father would. It wasn't so much a friendship as a very lopsided brotherhood, one member of the relationship giving a bit more than the other.

Conversely, life changed once Tails became old enough to fend for himself. He developed a personality to mirror Sonic's own, and the hedgehog finally got the companion he was looking for: a snarky, sarcastic little brother who could hold his own in a fight but still enjoyed being in his company. _That_ was a friend, not a burden.

Not that Sonic ever thought of Tails as a burden.

No, the fox was the most important person in the world to Sonic; he was the one who helped the hedgehog through the most difficult part of his life. He was always there – a rock in a sea of constant swelling waves of realities and hardships. He was Sonic's equal, in almost every aspect of the word. Sure, he was a genius and he wasn't quite as quick as the hedgehog, but he had a quick wit and a good sense of humor and he _got_ the hero like no one else could.

In this evolution of standing, Sonic had almost forgotten how hung up he had gotten over Tails' safety. Sure, he still worried himself sick when Tails blew something up or got attacked by Eggman, but he wasn't exactly breathing down his friend's back every chance he got.

Ten years ago, things had been the complete opposite.

"-almost got _hurt_, Miles!" Little Sonic was fuming, his arms crossed and his foot tapping as he glared down at the fox kit currently standing right in front of him, taking the brunt of his glare. The golden child's ears were flat, his lip wobbling dangerously and his eyes shining with unshed tears. He clutched one of his tails in his hands, holding it close like a safety blanket. When Sonic barked his real name, he flinched slightly, and a small whimper escaped his mouth.

"I'm sorry Soni-"

"'I'm sorry' isn't going to cut it this time Tails!" Sonic cut across harshly, waving his right hand in the air. His quills were bristled, making him look twice his regular size and his dark eyes looked almost alien. "What have I told you about running off without me? !"

Both of the older incarnations of the fox and hedgehog were seated at the kitchen table, as far away from the incensed hedgehog and upset fox as they could be in the small kitchen. Tails was watching all of this with wide eyes, his back straight and his fur standing slightly on end. Sonic was much the same, though his outward appearance didn't lend to that. Instead, his anxiety rolled off him in waves, making Tails twitch.

"I know Sonic! But I saw a Chaos Drive an-!"

"Damn it, Tai-!" He was cut off as elder Sonic made a warning sound, glaring at his younger self. He glanced sideways at his own blue eyed friend before speaking.

"Language, little me. He's only four. If you keep it up, this one here'll be a sailor tomorrow."

"I'll say whatever I damn well please!" Mini-Sonic argued back, glowering toward his challenger. "And stay out of this. It doesn't concern you."

Sonic rolled his eyes, letting a breath out of his nose. "That's where you're wrong, little Sonic." He clicked his tongue, gesturing with his hand in a way that provided a segway into his next train of thought. "But I guess I have no hope of winning this argument, so you may proceed. However, if you insist on using that type of language again, I will not hesitate to kick you out." Receiving a bright smile from Tails for his brilliant use of formal language, Sonic quirked an eyebrow at his younger self. "And don't look at me like that. Just because you're me doesn't mean I approve of everything you – _I_ – ever did. That dirty mouth got me into a lot of trouble."

Mini-Sonic rolled his eyes, but the fire inside of him seemed to have dimmed and he sighed, instead pointing toward the staircase. "Just, go upstairs Tails. I don't want to see you until dinner. No electronics."

The fox whimpered once before turning slowly and ambling toward the stairs, biting his lip. He sniffled once when he reached the bottom stair, turning slightly. "I really am sorry, Sonic." Then, he was gone up the steps.

Little Sonic groaned and he reached up with unsteady hands to rub his temples, grimacing. "That kid's gonna be the death of me; forget Robotnik and his badniks."

The thirteen year old fox seated at the table made an offended noise and the green-eyed hedgehog patted him on the shoulder. "Ignore him bro," he mumbled, gesturing toward the doorway. "Why don't you go keep your younger self some company while I have a chat with Little Blue?" Tails shared a meaningful glance with his big bro before nodding once and pushing himself to his feet. He left in a brisk walk, taking the stairs in leaps of two or three.

Both hedgehogs watched him leave, and once they heard the _click_ of the bedroom door close, Macro-Sonic turned to his younger self with a serious expression on his face.

"Cut the crap." The smaller one cut him off, crossing his arms. "I don't want to hear it. He almost got himself killed, running off the way he did."

The elder snorted, rolling his large green eyes. "Please." He laughed. "He can handle himself. You're just freaking out because you feel like you're losing him." His expression softened. "It's okay, you know. He'll grow up, but you'll never truly lose him-" He was cut off by a sharp snicker.

"_Please_." The younger hedgehog said in an almost perfect imitation of his older self. "I'm not worried about losing him to _age_. I'm worried sick over losing him to _death_. He doesn't realize how those robots can kill him! He walks right up to them and waves at them! He thinks that just because he carries that screwdriver with him everywhere that he's untouchable! I _saw_ that Grabber* coming for him and I felt my heart drop into my stomach! If I wasn't fast enough…" A sharp shiver quaked up his spine, making his quills flare out.

The twenty year old darted away from the table, bending over with one hand on the little one's shoulder and looking him in the eye. "You _will_ be fast enough." He said forcefully, his green eyes staring into the deep, dark depths of his younger self's own orbs. "Because if you're not fast enough to save him, you're not fast enough to save yourself."

Then, big Sonic turned on his heel and threw open the front door before striding out and yanking the door closed behind with a resounding slam. Ten-year-old Sonic, somehow feeling reprimanded despite the reassuring tone of the other, couldn't help but look down at his feet as his older self ziped away from the Workshop and into the wilds of Mystic Ruins.

o0o

A few hours later, right as the sun was starting to dip below the horizon, Little Sonic scaled the stairs, his steps heavy. Once he stepped onto the top landing, he paced slowly to the room he and Tails had been sharing for the past four months.

When he reached the door, he stopped short, his hand half-raised to grab the knob. Taking a deep breath, he steeled his nerves and clutched the knob, twisting it easily and feeling the door swing open under its own volition.

Inside, two almost-identical foxes were sitting on the floor, blueprints spread out in front of them. There were about twenty in all, covered in varying designs – from weapons to planes to speaker systems for the living room. Both looked up from where they were sketching in long swoops on their own respective print, blue and black eyes catching sight of Sonic at the same time.

The hedgehog minutely jerked his head toward the door, and the elder of the two canines caught his drift easily enough. He rose and, careful not to step on any of the blueprints, left the room, pulling the door closed behind him after sending his younger self a reassuring grimace.

After the door was completely shut, Sonic dropped down to the floor besides his little friend, folding his legs underneath himself. The fox stiffened, but he didn't pause from finishing the note he was writing on the print in front of him. The hedgehog glanced it over with a critical eye, his brow furrowing at the unfamiliar shapes in front of him.

"What'cha working on, kiddo?" He asked easily, feeling Tails relax a tad at the familiar nick-name. He tapped his pencil on the paper, watching as the action sent small eraser slivers flying into the air.

"Modification of your older self's grinding mechanic. He wants to go faster." His answer was short and he narrowed his eyes before erasing something very complicated looking and replacing it with a few numbers. "But, the friction from the rails to the shoes causes an in-resistance that I can't get rid of without making the bottoms of his shoes even more traction-reducing. But, if I condense the friction of the soles by eliminating some of the ridges, he'll go slipping and sliding all over the place when he's running normally." He placed a hand on his chin, staring down at his notes.

"Uh huh…" Sonic seemed at a loss for words, and he just stared at Tails with a blank expression. "You ever consider just adding a false sole that retracts when he's not on a rail…?" He trailed off, realizing how dense he sounded and shook his head. "Never mind. That's stupid."

Tails stared at him with a shocked expression before dropping his head back to his blueprint and staring at it with wide eyes. His pencil rose and he scratched through a whole line of notes before replacing them with the words 'false sole'. "Of course…" He muttered, dropping the writing utensil and looking back up at Sonic. "You're a genius!" He yelled, four year old voice cracking slightly out of excitement.

Sonic grinned, flashing a thumbs-up toward his friend. Tails beamed at him again before jotting down a few more scribbles. Sonic watched with vague interest before rearranging his face into a more serious expression. "Tails…" He tried to sound intimidating, but just got an ear flick in response from his kid brother. "Tails." He tried again, this time placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

The fox glanced up, and, catching sight of Sonic's expression, set his pencil down. "Yeah Sonic?"

"Look," the hedgehog began, licking his lips, "I'm sorry for earlier. I shouldn't have snapped like that." He paused, taking in a slight breath. "But, you need to understand, kid. The badnik almost grabbed you, because you went your own way without telling me. I was so _scared_ I was going to lose you, Tails."

The fox looked at his best friend with a guarded expression, his dark eyes stormy. "But, you're Sonic the Hedgehog…" He said after a time, looking down at his hands. "You're not scared of anything."

Sonic let out a small bark of laughter, rubbing the small child on the head. "Please. You've seen me when I get near water." After receiving a tiny smile and nod from his friend, he continued. "I can't lose you Tails." He mumbled shortly, slinging an arm over the thin shoulders of the other. "Not after seeing what you're gonna grow into; not after running through Westside Island with you; not after everything we've gone through; not after you've become my little brother."

Tails cocked his head to the side, analyzing the hedgehog's face. "Next time, I lead and you follow." He muttered, leaning into his friend's side.

"Huh?" Sonic grunted, looking down at the golden head of his little brother.

"It's something I heard your old self tell my older self." He pulled away from the embrace, gazing at the blue one with twinkling eyes.

Sonic scoffed. "Seems you never grow out of this deadly habit…."

"Guess not." He paused. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." The hedgehog smiled. "You can't help it. Simple minds are easily distracted." His voice held a joking tone, but the fox still stiffened next to him.

"Who you calling simple-minded, Sonic?" He challenged, standing quickly so he towered over his friend. "You're the one who can't even figure out the Pythagorean Theorem!"

Sonic scoffed again. "Who needs to know the _distance _of the missing side of a triangle when I can just run it in seconds?"

Tails rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "You don't understand." He shook his head, his ears smacking him in the skull. He looked ready to say something else, but a small knock on the door stopped him.

Both looked as a familiar green-eyed face popped into the room. "Hey guys," Sonic greeted cheerfully, "dinner's ready. You might want to come and get some before Tails claims most of it." He rolled his eyes. "Growing kid; thinks he needs a whole pizza." He offered in explanation.

"Alright. We'll be right there."

Sonic nodded. "Okay, I'll go hold down the fort." Then he was gone.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tails demanded, grabbing the blueprints off the floor and tossing them onto the nearby bed in a messy pile. "Let's go eat!" He turned toward the door, but froze with his foot half in the air. "Uh, you first." His voice was sheepish.

Sonic laughed, scooping the child up and hoisting him up so he could sit on his blue shoulders. "Nice try, lil'bro."

He felt Tails shrug. "Can't say I didn't make an effort."

"Fair enough."

* * *

><p>*Spider-like badnik from Chemical Plant Zone<p>

* * *

><p><em>Classic Sonic - hedgehog of little words. His speech is so short, but look at all those semicolons! <em>

_Looks like we're getting into a 'relationship-analyzing' stage. All well, I love analyzing stuff._

_Sorry that this one is a tad bit late this week. I've been working on a Sonic Generations adaptation with Yami-sama42 and I've been preoccupied. (And, just to plug, it's called _Temporal Fissure_. The prologue's up, if you want to go read it – link on my profile!) One other thing guys, if you want to waste about 45 minutes, there's three videos of me and Yami-sama playing Generations on YouTube. Stupidity abounds. Link on the profile if you want to see it._

_That's all I have to say this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!_

**To** **DanceDream**: I'm currently reworking your request because I'm not good with working on more than one major story at once. I'm trying to figure some stuff out, but I _will_ finish it, even if I have to cut it down to a oneshot. Sorry about that. :/

_**Next time:** Sickness plagues the Workshop! However will the only healthy occupants survive the microbiotic menace? Find out in _You Were Born to be My Torment

_Review please?_


	24. You Were Born to be My Torment

_.  
><em>

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"You Were Born to be My Torment."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Now it's time for science! Also medicine.

Guess who got the _Sonic Generations _OST signed by Jun Senoue? XD

(_Please ignore any typos you may find. I'm in a hurry to post and this thing is 5,000 words long.)_

* * *

><p>The disease spread quickly amongst the Mobian population. Only fatal to those just entering life and those about to make their grand exit, it left most of its victims bed-ridden for about a week with a fever, stuffed up nose, migraine, sore throat, achy joints and upset stomach. Generally, it just made one miserable and unable to do anything besides watch television, read a book, surf the web, or sleep. It was a variation on the human flu, passed to the Mobians through the similar anatomy of the Mobian pig sub-species.<p>

Considering the fact that they lived in the Mystic Ruins, the occupants of the Workshop should not have ever even come into contact with the disease. However, because Mini-Sonic and Tails had both traveled to Chemical Plant Zone the day before to retrieve some supplies for the inter-temporal transporter the older Tails was working on, they had inadvertently come into contact with someone carrying the disease.

Well, Tails had; Sonic had somehow dodged that bullet.

Somehow, in the next twenty-four hours, despite the close quarters Sonic had kept with the fox, he had avoided getting sick. Probably through more luck than providence, he was perfectly healthy.

His older self however, was as ill as they came.

Sonic barely got sick. It was so rare that Tails had been inclined to believe his protestations that the coughing and sniffling meant nothing. But, as the day had waned on, and the little Tails had been put into quarantine to keep the other occupants of the house safe, Sonic had progressively gotten worse to the point where he couldn't even keep a glass of water down without gagging. The elder fox had had no choice but to force him to go lay down in the same room as the younger fox.

That was how the world now found the four tenants of the Workshop; two as sick as they came and two perfectly healthy.

"How's that soup coming, Sonic?" Tails asked as he stomped up the steps from the Workshop, trying to shake the mud from his shoes. He had a small sack thrown over his shoulder and a glowing gem in his hand, which he set on the table.

"Almost done." Mini-Sonic replied, stirring the contents of the pot in front of him. "How was Knuckles?"

"Paranoid." Tails answered shortly. "He wouldn't come near me until I promised him that there was no way I could get sick."

"Why is that anyway?" The hedgehog asked without feeling, testing the soup with a spare spoon.

"Because my younger self caught the disease, that means I have anti-bodies that'll fight it off so I can't catch it again. Even though the disease was just introduced to the Mobian people a few months ago, I still caught it in the past, so I'm safe." He smiled, yanking open the small bag. "Time travel's actually useful in this one instance."

"Hm." Sonic hummed, pulling the pot off the burner and placing it on the counter to cool. "He give you anything useful?"

Tails nodded, pulling a few herbs out of his sack. "Some plants grown only on Angel Island that were used by his people to help ease joint pain and upset stomach. I have to make an elixir and somehow get Sonic to drink it." He stuck out his tongue. "My younger self'll take it easy enough, but Sonic's gonna make it a war."

"I'd help you if I could." Sonic remarked, ladling the hot liquid of the soup into two large soup bowls. "But, I can still get sick, can't I?"

"Yeah." Tails answered, walking across the kitchen and opening the top, furthermost cupboard, groping around for something. "You don't have any anti-bodies like I do, because your older self caught it." With a sigh, he closed the cupboard and placed his hands on his hips. "Where did I put that coffee pot?"

"Under the counter." Sonic answered shortly, bending down, and grabbing said pot out of the cupboard under the sink. "Anything else you want me to do while you take this soup up to them?"

Tails took the coffee pot with a small smile, glancing around the room as if searching for something to tell the little hedgehog. His eyes lighted when they crossed paths with the table. "Knuckles gave me a Chaos Emerald. Said it popped up on the Island. He's already got one and the Master Emerald, so he figured it'd be best for us to have it. Can you find somewhere safe to put it?"

"Sure." Sonic agreed, snatching the stone off the table as he passed. "That's three, right? Shadow's got one, we've got one, and Knuckles has one."

Tails nodded as he set the coffee pot on the counter and grabbed a tray out of one of the cupboards. "Yeah. Only four more now." He placed the tray on the counter before grabbing the two bowls of soup and placing them on the tray. "Well, I'm gonna head on up."

Sonic sent him a lazy two fingered salute, staring down at the purple stone clutched between his fingers. _Where to put you_…

o0o

Tails knocked on the door, more out of habit than courtesy, before turning the knob and pushing it open gently with his hip, holding on to the tray securely. He scooted his way into the guest bedroom, making sure not to trip on anything thrown on the ground, and made sure to close the door behind himself to keep any of the sick air from escaping.

Inside lay two forms, one on the bed and one in a hammock slung between the bed and the door by two hooks on the ceiling. A lazy hand hung over the side of the hammock, swaying back and forth as its owner barely rocked the makeshift bed with his feet, while a leg was poking out from under the covers on the bed, twitching slightly in sleep.

With a sigh, Tails placed the tray of food on the nightstand situated next to the bed and kicked at the humidifier in the corner, switching it off. He eased himself into a sitting position on the bed, sending a hand searching for the person lost in the blankets. With ease, he located a forehead and placed his gloved palm across the short, springy bangs of his younger self, almost flinching back at the heat that seeped through his glove.

"Mawcanik?" The younger fox yawned, rolling over so he could look at his older self.

"Just me, T2." Tails answered, smiling kindly. "You feeling any better?"

The child sniffled, his dark eyes clouded over with sickness. He tried to sit up, but Tails put out a restraining hand. "Not really." The young one answered truthfully, coughing slightly. "I got a little sleep though."

Tails nodded, easing the pillow out from under the golden head of his juvenile counterpart and placing it against the headboard so the other could lean against it. He then slowly helped the other fox to sit up, making sure to watch him for signs of dizziness. "That's good. Your body needs a lotta rest, because it's fighting really hard." He tweaked the other on the nose, eliciting a giggle from the other. "And, to help with the fight, I brought you some soup."

The four year old wrinkled his nose at the mention of the food, and Tails rolled his eyes. "Once you eat all of it, you can have some mint candies for your throat. How about that?"

The kid seemed to think about that for a few seconds for dramatic effect, and the older fox resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. Mint candy of the fox's favorite food, and he knew he couldn't resist them. "Okay." Tiny Tails answered finally, a huge smile splitting his pale face.

Tails shook his head, getting up to grab a bowl. He handed it off to his younger self, making sure he had a good grip on it before letting go, and finally turned his attention to the hammock. "Has Sonic been sleeping?"

"No." Came a muffled reply from the hammock. "Sonic can't sleep because it's so damn stuffy and hot in here!"

Tails sighed. "Hello to you too."

Sonic wasn't a good sick person. He didn't like being cooped up for long periods of time, didn't like to lay in one place for longer than a few hours, and hated feeling like crap. When he was sick, he reverted backwards in manner; he became irritable, grumpy, and rude. He groaned, moaned, cursed, and fumed, all the while being hostile to anyone trying to help him get better. He was a doctor's worst nightmare.

When Sonic didn't answer, Tails rolled his eyes once again. "I brought you some soup."

"Don't want soup."

"Not an option, Sonic." The fox answered, glancing toward his younger self. The child was sipping at the broth with a sour look on his face. Tails made a mental note to bring a bucket into the room for later when the food would inevitably be making a reappearance. "You need to eat to get better."

"Soup's not food, Tails." The hedgehog argued back, glaring down at his friend with red-ringed eyes. "It's water. Just give me a glass of that."

The fox resisted the urge to groan. "Sonic, look-" He was cut off.

"Just gimmie the damn soup if it'll make you leave. Me and the little you were fine until you came in and disturbed us."

This time, Tails did groan a little. "Fine." He grabbed the bowl off the tray and twisted his tails so he could hover at eye level with the hedgehog. Sonic glared at him, holding a frail hand out for the bowl. Tails handed it over, once again making sure his friend had a good hold on it. He eyed the hedgehog's makeshift bed, biting his lip.

"Do you want a blanket?"

"No," Sonic answered tartly, blowing away some of the steam, "it's hot in here. Turn that damn humidifier off."

"I already did."

"Good."

Tails sighed again, dropping back to the ground. "I'll be back in about fifteen minutes with some juice. What kind do you want?" He was asking both of them, but Sonic took it upon himself to grumble like Tails had just personally insulted him.

"Apple juice sounds good." Little Tails answered, taking another sip of his food. "What do you think Sonic?"

"Meh." Was the only response and Tails chose to take the lack of conviction as a yes.

o0o

"You know," Tails grumbled as he pushed his way back into the kitchen, stomping right past Mini-Sonic, startling the hedgehog out of his thoughts, "it wouldn't kill you to work on your people skills."

"Hello to you too." Sonic answered back, quirking an eye ridge.

Tails froze, recognizing his own voice in those words, and he sent Sonic a look. Suddenly, it struck him how close in age the hedgehog was to him – only a three year difference. Sonic was mature for his age though, Tails reminded himself, so they were actually about the same age mentally, and he unexpectedly felt a small sort of kinship crop up between himself and this younger version of his best friend. They were both struggling through this weird arrangement with the same mindset. Sure, there were two others, but there were ages of difference between the middle two and the younger and older. They had different mindsets, different mannerisms, different outlooks on the world. Both the eldest fox and youngest hedgehog were pre-adolescent, but also no longer children. Before this moment in time, Tails had felt no sort of attachment to the younger hedgehog, constantly being distracted by _his_ Sonic and the smaller fox. The lighter blue hedgehog had been a shadow in his mind, a mere thing to dwell over when things got fuzzy, not to necessarily worry about.

But now, he saw so much of himself in the younger Sonic. He saw the Sonic had helped to shape his speech patterns, his mannerisms, because _this_ was the Sonic that the younger Tails had impressed upon. _This _was the hedgehog that had raised him into the person he was today; _this_ was the Sonic that doted over him, making sure he knew his manners and was safe; _this_ was the Sonic that changed his life by adopting him as a little brother.

"Hey, kid," Sonic waved his hand in front of the thirteen year old's nose, and Tails jerked backward, "you okay?"

"Y-yeah." Tails stuttered back, eyeing the smaller black-eyed figure in front of him. "Did you just call me _kid_?"

"Did I?" Sonic shrugged, placing his feet on the table and tipping his chair back. "Well, I see so much of the younger you still in there, I can't help but think of you as my little fuzzball." He winked. "Besides, no matter how old you get, you'll always be my little bro', ya'know?" He smirked, ignoring the slightly lost-expression on the other's face. "I take it older-me wasn't exactly cooperative?" He changed the subject, saving Tails the trouble of answering the previous tack.

Tails shook himself out of his stupor completely, rolling his eyes. "Yeah." He answered shortly, grunting. "Same cherry disposition he has every time he – _you_ – gets sick. You really should work on that."

The other shrugged. "What can I say? Sick doesn't agree with me. Staying in the same spot for days on end, not being able to run, really makes a guy go crazy. Being rude is one way I get over it, I guess."

Tails scowled, going over the refrigerator and yanking it open with more force than necessary. His tails were lashing more roughly than usual, hinting at some underlying frustration. "Doesn't exactly make it easier on those of us who have to deal with you."

Sonic scoffed. "You're annoyed." It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. "Now you know how I feel when you do something I tell you not to, or you don't listen, or you build something that could blow us all up, or you have a temper tantrum because I won't – or can't – get you something you want." He watched the fox with eyes like flint, and Tails resisted the urge to flinch away from the unwavering stare. "Taking care of a kid when you're still one yourself ain't easy, Tails." He said tartly, dropping his feet to the ground and letting the chair legs slam down as well. "Least you can do is help take care of me when I need you, since I've watched over you when you've needed it."

Tails looked back into the fridge, his namesakes wilting as shame crept up on him, worming into his brain and settling in his belly in a thick ball. He reached inside, pulling out a jug of apple juice, and closed the door with his elbow. Dejectedly, he made his way to the sink, grabbing two clean glasses out of the drying rack and pouring liquid into them until they were about half full. Some of it sloshed over the side, but he ignored it, instead turning back toward the younger Sonic.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Tails answered, banging the glasses on the counter a little too roughly. "I'm sorry you have to work so hard to take care of me. I'm sorry you have to give so much up for me. I'm sorry I'm so much trouble. I'm sorry for everything! I'm sorry, okay!" As he spoke, his voice got more and more powerful, until eventually he was yelling, tears pooling in the corners of his clear blue eyes. Juice was everywhere, but Tails didn't seem to care.

Sonic was across the room in a flash, placing his hand on the fox's shoulder and forcing him to look at him. "No." He said forcefully. "Don't ever be sorry, bud." He commanded, voice mirroring Tails' own. "Do you really think I would stick around you if you were just a problem? An obligation? No, everything I've done – everything I'm gonna _do_ – is because I _want_ to, not because I feel like I have to. Taking care of you has been the best adventure of my life, Tails. More fun and challenging than anything Robotnik can throw at me." He made a fist, looking down at his clenched fingers. "All I want is a thank you every once in a while, you know? You're too young to realize it now, but I've given up a lot for you, kid." Tails' ears pricked, and he had a feeling that he wasn't the particular fox the blue one was talking about anymore. "But, it's all worth it. Don't forget that."

Tails fell to his knees, falling to the almost exact height of his younger self, and he wrapped his arms around the blue hedgehog's midsection, hugging him tightly. "Thanks for everything, big bro'." The tone and weight the words were said with hid nothing, and one could tell they were said not because the fox felt obligated to, but because he wanted to.

"Anytime kiddo." Sonic answered, smiling. "Now," he pulled the fox to his feet, "why don't you refill those glasses and let me take the juice to the invalids, eh?"

"But, Sonic, you can't." Tails argued back, sniffling slightly. "You'll get sick."

Sonic shook his head. "I don't think I will." He answered, smirking. "I was thinking about your anti-body speech from earlier, and I realized that for the older-me to be sick, that means that _I_ never catch the disease."

"Well, yeah." Tails answered, wiping up all of the spilled juice on the counter. "But that doesn't mean that you can just go waltzing into the sick room. You're still susceptible."

Sonic quirked an eye ridge again, setting his hands on his hips. "But, if I get sick, then that means that the older-me can't get sick, because we'll have the anti-bodies in our system. But, if he can't get sick, then that means that I wouldn't have gotten sick, because I wouldn't have had to go into the room. Then, he would have gotten sick anyway, because we wouldn't have the anti-bodies. _Then_, I would still be healthy, so I would want to take the juice and-"

"Yes, I get it." The fox cut across, rolling his eyes. "Doesn't change the fact that you still can't go into that room. It's impossible."

"Not if I wear a mask." The hedgehog answered, smirking again. "Besides, you need to get working on that elixir so we can get his royal pain-in-the-assness out of bed quicker."

Tails' sigh signaled resignation and Sonic smiled winningly. "Where can I find the masks?"

o0o

Two days later found the occupants of the Workshop much the same, except two of its inhabitants were more frazzled than usual, and doubly caffeine dependent than ever before. The ten year old and thirteen year old Mobians had been working around the clock to make sure their two patients were comfortable, to the point where they themselves were running on next to no sleep.

Currently, Tails was dozing at the kitchen table, waiting for the elixir to finish brewing. It had taken him a full day and a half to decipher the ancient Echidnian language the instructions were written in and then another half a day for the concoction to simmer on the stove. Meanwhile, Sonic had been in and out of the sick room all day, carrying things to and fro. He was clad in a medical-issue mask and rubber gloves and he handled much of the contaminated cups and bowls with extreme care.

In the past forty-eight hours, both of the sick ones' fevers had broken, but their achiness and sore throats were getting worse, signaling a second string of the virus. Tails was getting antsy. Sonic was getting better, but not quick enough, and Tiny Tails was dehydrated, unable to keep down any fluids. If things kept going the way they were, he would have to fly them both to the Station Square medical center.

Finally, like a godsend, the timer resting next to Tails' hand dinged, rousing the fox. He jumped up and yanked the pot away from the stove, flinching away from the disgusting smell it gave off. Gagging slightly, he poured the viscous liquid into two small glasses, helping it along with a spoon. It was a dark gray color, thick as pea soup, and no doubt tasted vile, but it would boost the immune system and no doubt help the hedgehog and fox get better within the next twenty-four hours.

He grabbed the two glasses and walked out into the living room, kicking at the couch to wake up the hedgehog napping there. The younger Sonic had been awake more than Tails, and he felt a little bad to be waking him up, but he would probably need his help to force the medicine down the older hedgehog's throat.

Sonic jolted awake, rolling off the couch on accident. He landed with a thunk and didn't move for five seconds before a muffled "ow" wormed its way to Tails' ears and a smile flickered across his face.

"Sorry Sonic." He mumbled, chuckling under his breath. "The elixir's ready."

"Al'ight." Sonic drawled through a yawn. "Let's go get this over with then." He got to his feet before making his way to the stairs, Tails following him.

"How you wanna do this?" Tails asked as they scaled the steps, balancing the glasses so none of the precious liquid spilled out.

"Direct approach." Sonic answered shortly, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "You open the door and I'll tackle him, get his mouth open, and you pour the medicine in."

"You don't think he'll choke, do you?"

"Nah," Sonic answered, pulling a mask on over his face, "he'll swallow. His sense of self preservation is too strong for him to refuse." He smirked. "Or at least, that's how _I_ would react, and we both know how much he resembles me."

Tails snickered and stopped in front of the guest bedroom, cracking the door open to peek inside. The little fox was awake, sitting up in bed and reading a book. His ears pricked at the sound of the door opening and he glanced toward the sound. Tails placed a finger over his lips to signal the other to stay quiet, and he obeyed easily enough. Tails' eyes traveled up to the hammock and he was slightly startled to see Sonic's green eyes glaring at him. Tails' face puckered and he pulled his head back, closing the door behind him.

The hedgehog in the hammock shrugged, turning over so his back was facing the door. More than likely, Tails was just checking on them.

Seconds later, that thought left his mind as the door was flung open and a blue blur barreled into the room with a loud battle cry.

Sonic sat up with a jolt, green eyes wide as the blur bounced off the ground and into the hammock with him. He was slightly startled when his younger self grinned at him, grabbing him by the shoulders and ripping him out of the hammock and toward the ground. They landed in a tangle of limbs and curse words, and Sonic tried his hardest to fight off the smaller hedgehog. However, his sick arms were no match for the younger hedgehog and he totally forgot about his legs because his socked feet were light without his shoes to remind him that he could kick at the speed of sound.

In the resulting – albeit one-sided – scuffle, the taller hedgehog somehow ended up pinned underneath the ten year old, his arms pressed into the carpet by the knees of the smaller one. His legs were useless because the black eyed hedgehog was sitting on the flat stomach of his older self, his hands holding Sonic's face to the ground.

"-the hell do you think you're doing? !" Suddenly, Sonic was aware that he was yelling. "Get off me! I'm sick! This is no time for a wrestling match! Damnit, _lemme_ up!"

"Nothing doing, older-me." The young hedgehog answered, fingers digging rather painfully into the tan skin of Sonic's muzzle. "You have to take this medicine Tails made and I'm gonna make sure you drink all of it." Grinning wickedly, he hooked his fingers under Sonic's lips and grabbed hold of his jaw, gently trying to yank his mouth open. The older hedgehog, in shock, did nothing to stop him.

Ten year old Sonic jerked his head toward Tails, signaling him to pour the disgusting liquid into the hedgehog gaping jaw. Tails didn't hesitate, knowing that their window was small, and Sonic sputtered when the medicine hit his taste buds. He gagged, trying his hardest to keep from swallowing. However, the younger hedgehog forced his head backwards, and gravity took over, compelling the medicine down his throat.

"Swallow." The lighter blue hedgehog commanded strongly. "It'll help you feel better."

Fifteen seconds later, Sonic lost the battle and he finally forced the medicine down. Once it was clear that it was all swallowed, the younger hedgehog catapulted himself away from his elder persona, allowing him room to breathe.

Slowly, the older hedgehog sat up, his expression dark. "That was foul." He said simply, wiping his lip with the back of his hand. Whether he meant the medicine's taste or foul-play on the part of his younger self, neither Tails nor the juvenile Sonic knew. Then, without another word, he climbed back into his hammock, pulling a blanket over his head.

A beat of silence passed before Tails muttered, "that was easier than I thought it would be."

Sonic didn't answer, instead grabbing the other cup of medicine from the fox and taking it over to the bed. The tiny fox laying there squeaked when he noticed the glass and he tried to burrow his way under the covers.

Sonic stopped him with a restraining hand and he smiled at his young charge. "C'mon Tails. Don't make me crawl on your chest too."

"B-but…" The small fox trailed off, biting his lip. "But, I'm already feeling better Sonic!" He smiled brightly and Sonic looked mildly convinced. Until Tails almost fell over from the coughing spell that overtook him.

Once he was finished, Sonic forced the glass into the fox's small hand. "C'mon kiddo," he repeated kindly, smiling reassuringly, "it'll do you some good. You'll be feeling better by this time tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Yup." Sonic nodded.

Tails eyed the medicine with a face of distain, but he grabbed his nose and put the glass to his lips before tipping it back. The liquid rolled into his mouth slowly and his face screwed into an expression of disgust. He swallowed it nonetheless and took a deep breath, coughing afterward to get the horrible taste out of his throat.

"Good job Tails." Sonic congratulated, patting his charge on the back. "Now, why don't you get some sleep? Give the medicine some time to get working?"

"Okay…" The fox hugged his best friend around the midsection, smiling happily. "Thanks Sonic."

The hedgehog looked a little shocked, but he hugged back nonetheless. "For what?"

"For everything."

o0o

The next morning, Sonic – the twenty year old – walked into the kitchen, shoes on, fur back to its bright blue color, and any sign of sickness gone. He walked right up to his younger self, glared at him, and jabbed his right pointer finger into the tip of his nose. "You were born to be my torment." He muttered, his green eyes smoldering.

The younger hedgehog sputtered, choking on the water he had just sipped into his mouth. "I'm you." He answered, his voice a thick dead-pan.

"Yes." The older hedgehog replied, turning on his heel and walking away.

"Okay then…"

"Hey Tails!" The dark blue Mobian called, and the thirteen year old fox's head popped up from the other side of the couch.

"Yeah Sonic?"

"Who gave you the recipe for that medicine?"

"Knuckles, why?"

"I'm gonna go see him. Don't wait up for me."

Tails blinked as Sonic darted out of the room. A few minutes later, the sound of the _Tornado_ being coaxed to life sounded outside and it wasn't long until the red bi-plane was disappearing into the distance.

Tails shared a look with the ten year old hedgehog still sitting at the table.

"Well, he's feeling better." Tails said at the same time that the younger blue one mumbled,

"I'm scared for myself."

* * *

><p><em>Well, that was a roller coaster. For me and the Sonics and Tailses. <em>

_Conversation I had with my beta:_

Ashurii Hikari: Sonic went to go beat up Knuckles

Kaasuten Yami: 3

Ashurii Hikari: Well, probably go _get_ beaten up by Knuckles

Ashurii Hikari: Because he's still recovering from sickness

Kaasuten Yami: yup

Kaasuten Yami: Adding insult to injury:

Kaasuten Yami: Gets beat up by CLASSIC KNUCKLES.

Ashurii Hikari: Poor Sonic

Kaasuten Yami: At least with Modern vs Modern and Classic vs Classic it can be justified by even a simple "Knuckles is older"

Kaasuten Yami: but...

Kaasuten Yami: Modern Sonic vs Classic Knuckles would be hilarious

_Announcement:_ _My tumblr has a deep conversation between me and Yami about time travel. Read at your own risk!_

_Reviews are cherished._


	25. Face It, You Need Me!

.

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Face it, you need me!"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> I've had people ask me – mainly through PM – over and over again how I get the characterization of each character so pure. The answer: practice. I have small snippets of passages all over this computer that'll never be posted of me just practicing. There are multiple facial expression studies, emotional passages, and difference scenario ficlets hidden here. For example, Sonic… He's a hard character to write, because he's so freaking _expressive_, and snarky at the same time. He's _tough_, especially for a new writer. It's really easy to just butcher his personality by making him too laid back, or too serious. There's a balance that's hard to achieve, and I don't have it down yet. Probably never will.

And, lucky me, I get to juggle two of those balances…

_Important:_ Because I over-thought the timeline placement of this game and the amount of time that passes during this fic, I seem to have screwed up Modern Tails' age. He is now _twelve_ in all of the previous chapters. However, because of the fact that his birthday might pass (in November – last chapter took place in October, if that puts anything into perspective. What am I saying? None of these things are in any semblance of order.), he might be thirteen again in some of these. I apologize for the confusion. I'll make sure to tell you where each chapter takes place if it's important.

_(Once again, p__lease ignore any typos you may find. I'm in a hurry to post and I'm really tired. I'll edit it tomorrow, scout's honor.)_

Halfway done! Huzzah!

* * *

><p>Mini-Sonic had seen the signs.<p>

_Missing: Ray the Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo. Have you seen us?_

But, the little hedgehog had a hard time believing that his two best friends from Pre-Robotnik times could really be missing. They were self-sufficient, much like himself, and Mighty would never _ever_ let anything happen to Ray. So, he couldn't consider the concept of them being missing for over four years. They were two of the strongest and smartest individuals he had ever met, and nothing could take them by surprise. They were probably on some remote desert island, hunting for treasure, or simply wandering, not staying in the same place for longer than a day, so no one could pin them down.

Still, he couldn't get the niggling, annoying voice out of his head that said they could possibly be in trouble. They weren't loners; they needed more companionship besides themselves every once in a while. They were both young, like himself, but a lot less well-known. Adults tended to see young children traveling by themselves as a problem, and if they had stumbled across the wrong adult, they probably would have been scooped up and placed in an orphanage.

In fact, they were probabl-

"Hey, Sonic." His thoughts were cut into as Tails – the elder – waved a hand in front of his face, trying to get his attention. "Were you even listening?"

"Huh?" The hedgehog asked, blinking. "Oh, no. I'm sorry Tails. Just thinking about something."

"Oh. Anything you want me to help with?"

Sonic sighed, rubbing his temples with his forefingers and grimacing. "I'm just worrying about Mighty and Ray."

Tails stared at him for a few seconds, his mind ticking through his mental list of names and coming up slightly blank. "Who?"

Sonic bit back a groan. He had forgotten; Tails didn't know his old best friends. He had met Sonic after that chapter of his life had passed, and the hedgehog was notoriously closed lip about his life before Robotnik, even with his little brother. "Mighty and Ray. They were my friends in Green Hill Zone before Robotnik rose to power."

Tails nodded, his eyes finally brightening. "Oh, I know them. You introduced them to me on my fifth birthday."

Sonic paused, shaking his head. It was almost surreal to hear things he was planning on doing – but hadn't acted on yet – come out of the twelve-year-old. "I haven't seen them since Green Hill, but all of these missing signs I keep seeing for them are freaking me out."

"What missing signs?" A new voiced entered the conversation before Tails could reply, and the person it belonged to followed it into the room, stretching his long, tan arms over the dark blue quills on his head. Older Sonic smirked toward his little brother and past self, lowering his arms and making his way toward the refrigerator. Opening it in a smooth move, he pulled a bottle of water out while his younger self answered his inquiry.

"Mighty and Ray's missing signs."

The elder hedgehog broke the seal on the bottle with a sharp crack, and he took a hearty swig before answering. "They're not missing."

Sonic blinked, sharing a look with Tails. "What?"

"They're not missing." The taller Mobian repeated, closing the bottle. "Never were."

"_What_." Mini-Sonic asked again, with a little more feeling. "They weren't missing? Then why were there signs posted all over Station Square?"

The twenty year old shrugged, placing the bottle on the counter. "Not exactly sure. They went to Earth a few years ago, something about being Mobian ambassadors…" He trailed off, seeing the blank look on his younger self's face. "You see, the humans are big on this 'Representation before taxation' thing and this applies to their Mobian territory. Since Mobians live all over the planet, they felt like they needed a Mobian perspective before they created their laws…" He broke off again, brow furrowing when the other's face didn't change. "What?" He floundered, trying to save the conversation.

"Aren't they a little young to be _ambassadors_?" It was the only question Little Sonic could get out, his mind awhirl with too many others.

Sonic snorted. "You forget, Little-Me. Mighty's twenty-one now; Ray's nineteen. They can do whatever they want."

The ten year old took a minute to soak that in. Twenty-one and nineteen; not the eleven and nine he was used to… He shook his head. "Then, what's with the signs? !" He demanded again, eye starting to twitch slightly.

Sonic shrugged again. "They didn't tell anyone besides me where they were going, so I guess someone started to miss them and reported them missing." He paused. "They're came back to Mobius last week actually. Called me the other day. They're coming over for dinner on Friday."

Tails sputtered, finally ejecting himself back into the conversation. "_Friday_? !" He demanded, eyes wide. "That's tomorrow! The house is a mess! Why didn't you tell me sooner? !" He rushed away from the kitchen, tails lashing angrily. "Now I've got to work overtime to get this place _clean_. Damnit Sonic!"

The older hedgehog rolled his eyes, calling after the fox. "Watch the language, Tails!" The command wasn't very heartfelt, but he was still fulfilling his big brother policing duty, so he shrugged, turning back to his younger self. "You okay there?" He asked, catching sight of the puckered face the other was exhibiting.

"I just spent about four months thinking my two best friends are gonna go missing, when they actually _don't_ and _then_ you tell me that they're gonna come _here_ tomorrow for _dinner_… I haven't seen them in a _long time_. Don't you think you should have asked me about this?"

"Nah," the elder answered, grabbing his bottle of water and turning to leave the room. "Everyone's gotta face their ghosts every once in a while." It was a simple statement, and he didn't give the ten year old time to dwell on it before he swept out of the room.

o0o

The next day, the Workshop was spotless, Tails having launched an extreme cleaning campaign on the house. No one was safe from the fox's wrath, all three of the other occupants having been given a feather duster or bottle of window cleaning solution and put to work. Luckily, most of the fox's robots had done the brunt of the work, but the actual living beings had been pretty exhausted by the time everything was finished.

About an hour before dinner, the world found Macro-Sonic sitting at the table, blowing a breath out in a great huff, his lungs deflating. He tapped his fingers on the table, glaring toward the door and huffing every few seconds. Sonic didn't like waiting. For anything. He was a hedgehog of action, not of idle passiveness. He was tempted to get up and just leave, but he knew that his waiting would be over soon enough.

"Calm down, Older-Me," Mini-Sonic reprimanded, making his way toward the sink, "if you bounce your leg anymore, you'll fall out of the chair." His gaze was pointed at Sonic's left foot, and the hedgehog forced it to stop bounding up and down under the table. The hedgehog nodded, turning on the tap and running a small drinking glass under the warm water. He rubbed his ungloved fingers over the surface, enjoying the feeling of the smooth glass. "You're gonna want to clear out of here in about two minutes," the hedgehog added as he started to dry the glass. "The younger Tails is cooking dinner tonight, and you know how hegets about the kitchen."

Sonic groaned, resisting the urge to slam his head into the table. The only thing keeping him inside the house and waiting _was _the table. If he got up, he doubted he would have the will power to stay in _Mystic Ruins_ let along the Workshop. But, if li'l Tails was claiming the kitchen, it would be for his betterment to get out of the way.

Back when Tails had been young – between the ages of four and seven – he had taken up cooking as a hobby. He claimed that the practice helped to develop a fundamental understanding of chemistry, but Sonic knew that the kit already knew almost everything there was to know about chemistry, so there was no way he was learning anything new. Yet, he never questioned the kid, letting him enjoy his free time. If it kept him from blowing something up or developing weapons, then it was fine with him.

Plus, Sonic was well fed during those years.

But, when the fox decided it was time to cook… It was time to _cook_. Full on, five dishes being made at once cooking. He was everywhere at once, and the kitchen was usually a mess of flour and kitchen appliances by the time he was done, so both Sonics usually stayed out of his way when he decided he needed to work off some steam and make some food. (The older Tails had been pulled into help his younger self, despite a lack of interest in his budding teenaged years.)

The hedgehog heaved another sigh, standing fully from the table and backing up out of the room, crossing paths with the cooking demon himself. He almost sent the small four year old tumbling to the ground, but caught him at the last second, sending the small fox teetering forward onto his toes.

"Hey Sonic!" The small child greeted once his balance was under control. "You excited for dinner?"

Sonic smiled, dropping down to one knee and tweaking the tiny fox on the nose. "Oh yeah." He answered, the grin splitting his face. "Especially since you're cooking. What'cha making tonight?"

"I'm not sure yet." Tails answered, his face twisting into a thoughtful expression. On the young face, the expression looked almost comical. "I was thinking lasagna." He looked to Sonic for approval and the hedgehog sent him a thumbs up.

"Sounds good to me. Make sure you make a lot though."

"Oh, I will!" The kit's enthusiasm was catching, and Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. "You wanna help?"

Sonic's smile dropped and he forced it back into place quickly. "Ya'know, kiddo, I think I'm gonna check on Mechanic," he used the nickname the small fox had taken to calling his older self, and the small two-tail smiled winningly at its mention, "he's been cooped up in the workshop all afternoon. 'Bout time I drag him out and make him get a bath. What'cha think?"

Dark, young eyes widened at the dreaded _b_ word and he placed a hand over his mouth to hide the giggles bubbling to the surface. "I think you should make sure he uses a lot of bubbles. He loves the bubbles."

Sonic laughed outright then, reaching forward and ruffling the thin, springy bangs of the smaller fox. "Alright, lil'bro. I'll see what I can do."

Tails smiled at him once again before pivoting on his heel and marching into the room like a general going into battle. Seconds later, Mini-Sonic rushed out of the room, covering his head.

"He throw the spoon at you again?" The older hedgehog asked, smirking slightly.

"No." His younger counterpart answered. "The spatula."

o0o

The elder of the two hedgehogs was just making his way into the kitchen – Tails was in the shower, his younger self was in the living room playing a video game – to help the tiny fox set the table when the door slammed open and someone charged in, not bothering to knock.

The being was a red shelled armadillo. His body was mainly black, while his belly, arms, and muzzle were all tan, much like Sonic himself. His shoes were red and white, as was the general color scheme for most Mobians, and his gloves were white. His eyes had somehow outlasted the test of time and stayed their dark, almost-black pitch, unlike Sonic's and all of his friends'. He sauntered into the room, looking for all the world like the most cocky individual to walk the planet's surface.

"Face it," he said once he caught sight of Sonic gaping at him, "you need me." He dropped the dark blue Chaos Emerald on the table, smirking to himself. "Found that at the bottom of Never Lake. You'd have never found it, Mr. Aquaphobic."

Sonic didn't rise to the jab and he simply walked up to his friend, hitting him on the back in lieu of a greeting. "Nice to see you too, Might. How's Earth?"

The armadillo's face scrunched into an expression of distaste. "Boring, too different from home, too far away: the usual." He shrugged.

"And Ray?" Sonic tried to see over the armadillo's head, but he was a few inches taller than the blue one and he scowled.

"He was right behind me. Probably circled around to see what kinda plane Tails is working on." He paused. "Where is Tails anyway?"

Sonic whipped around, forgetting all about the younger fox who had been cooking. He was nowhere to be found, and the hedgehog breathed a sigh of relief. Better to drop the 'I-have-a-past-version-of-myself-living-in-the-house-with-me' bomb slowly. "He was in the workshop all day, so I made him take a shower." He shook his head.

Mighty raised an eyebrow, glancing around the room. "Then who cooked all of this? I remember that little fuzzball liked to cook, and if he was in the workshop all day…" He trailed off, and Sonic scrabbled for an excuse.

"Uh…"

"Wait," Mighty held up his hands, "don't tell me _you_ made it! Chaos, I should leave now."

"Haha, you're hilarious." Sonic's tone was as dry as a desert and he glared at his friend. "Actuall-"

He was cut off as the door to the living room slid open and Sonic's younger self – in full light blue glory – walked into the room, staring down at the game manual in his hand. "Explain something to me," he demanded, not looking up, "the book says the Y button makes the character jump, but when I hit up on the control stick, he jumps too. Also, it says A is for close range attacks, but with most of the characters, I hit them from far away. I don't _underst-_" He cut himself off as he finally picked his head up and caught sight of his older self gaping at himself like a fish, and the shocked expression on Mighty's face.

The older hedgehog whipped around, trying to block the small hedgehog from the armadillo's line of vision. Mighty dropped his eyes from the light blue figure to rest on the darker Mobian in front of him and his expression dropped. "Okay," he began, face splitting into a smile, "who's the mom?"

The awkwardness in the room disintegrated as two hedgehog faces fell into flat, not amused expressions.

"You're not funny." Mini-Sonic mumbled as his older counterpart started to sputter denials and rebuttals. "You know what I look like when I'm ten."

"Nice to see you again, Sonic." Mighty answered, a huge grin on his face. "You're rounder than I remember."

"You're blunter than I remember." Mini-Sonic countered as the elder hedgehog in the room finally fell silent.

Mighty shrugged. "Earth," he offered as an explanation. "Being around humans all day changes a person."

Sonic nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but someone new stumbled into the room through the same door Mini-Sonic had just entered through.

It was a yellow flying squirrel, with a tan muzzle, ears, and belly. His eyes were the same color as Mighty's and his shoes looked similar to Sonic's sans buckle. He had a small golden form hanging on his back, the ungloved hands clasped around his shoulders covered in flour.

"I found Tails." The squirrel said shortly, faltering slightly as the four year old on his back shifted. "Or rather, he found me." He grinned, turning around so Sonic could extract the kit from his person. "He's smaller than I expected him to be."

"Hello Ray," the elder hedgehog greeted as he set the kit on the ground. Tiny Tails backed up so he was standing next to his big brother, worming his dirty hand into the ten year old hedgehog's clenched fist. "That's because," Sonic continued, watching as Ray struggled to keep his face straight, "that's not Tails; not exactly." Taking a deep breath, he swept his hand toward the two past incarnations. "I'd like you to meet myself and T2, the Sonic and Tails of ten years ago."

Luckily, at the end of that statement, a slightly moist twelve-year-old Tails decided to barge into the room, and he paused when he caught sight of the wide eyed stares everyone was giving each other. He sighed, rolling his eyes. "Hey Mighty, hey Ray." He greeted, catching their attention. "How about we start eating and we'll explain everything?" He ushered them to the table, taking charge of the situation. "Trust me, the story's long and you'll want to eat something."

The armadillo and squirrel shared a look and they nodded slowly before making their way to the – still not set – table.

"This had better be good." Mighty mumbled. "Because it has to beat the werewolf story you told us last time we were here."

"Werehog." Sonic corrected in an absentminded tone, grabbing plates out of the cupboard.

"Whatever."

"Well, you see," Tails began, grabbing the large pan of lasagna off the counter and placing it on the table, "it all started on Sonic's birthday…"

* * *

><p><em>Story time! Story time!<br>_

_Not much plot or point in this one. I just wanted to have some fun.  
><em>

_I love Knuckles' Chaotix and SegaSonic the Hedgehog. I love Mighty and Ray. Their characterization will be mainly from the games (what characterization?). I don't really like Archie, so we're not gonna go there. Capiche? _

_Random facts and notes: (1) Sonic's screw up of "No taxation without representation" was done purposely to show the lack of knowledge most Mobians have of Earth. They really don't care. (2) Classic Tails liking to cook was dragged from a previous – scrapped – draft of a different ficlet. I loved the idea so much that I couldn't let it go. (3) Tails' obsession with cleaning can also be seen in my oneshot 'Just Adjectives.' (4) Mighty's joke about Classic Sonic being Modern's kid is from another scrapped piece of this story. If you want to read it, here you go:_

_o0o  
><em>

"You don't understand, _miss_." The older hedgehog forced the title through his teeth, his fists clenching at his sides. "He's really sick. He needs to see a doctor _now_."

"And you don't seem to understand, _Mr._ Hedgehog," the woman replied back with a more acidic tone, finally looking up from her paperwork. "I can't let anyone back there without the proper forms. Come back when you can produce a citizenship license."

Sonic bit back a few curse words, grabbing his quills in his hands. Turning sharply on his heel, he stalked back toward the children's section, grabbing the light blue arm of his younger self. The small hedgehog suddenly found himself yanked forward, and he was dragged all the way to the desk before he realized what was happening.

"Look, miss," the older grumbled, gesturing at the tiny speedster at his side. "What do you think of this?"

"I think that your son looks a lot like you," she muttered back, barely glancing at the small blue one before going back to her papers.

Both Sonics sputtered, sharp gasps escaping their throats. "_What_?" The older breathed, shoving his black eyed incarnation back towards the foxes. He glared at his older self before walking back and jumping back into his chair. "Look lady," all pretense of politeness was gone, "I'm twenty, and _he,_" he hooked a thumb in the smaller hedgehog's direction, "is ten. Do the math."

The feline's ears flicked a little out of annoyance. "Mr. Hedgehog, we are very busy. Please go sit down and I'll see what I can do."

Casting a look around the nearly empty waiting room, Sonic grumbled and stalked back toward his friends. Without pausing, he grabbed the older fox and hauled him to his feet.

"C'mon kid, we're leaving."

o0o

_There you go. I transpose a lot of ideas from dead ficlets into the alive ones. Not very interesting, but clever I think. _

_Seems Modern Sonic VS. Classic Knuckles is a hot commodity. I'll see what I can do. ;D_

_Reviews are cherished. _


	26. I'm an Expert, Remember?

_._

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"I'm an expert, remember?"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Had some serious problems with this chapter, (this story's hit its troubled teenaged years, it seems.) so I decided to experiment a little. Tried to keep the dialogue restricted to the last 250 words.

Enjoy some _aaaaaaaaangst._

* * *

><p>Sonic rarely slept in the room he called his own. He was always on the roof, on the couch, or not sleeping at all when night fell and blanketed everything in its firm embrace. He was not a long sleeper, preferring to catch short naps during the day instead of sleeping for long periods of time. Knuckles occasionally joked that he was a cat, snoozing instead of sleeping, and Sonic never argued with him, silently agreeing that his sleeping habits were strange.<p>

Now that he shared his bedroom with Tails – the fox having given up his own room for their younger incarnations to use – he didn't really go in there much, except to grab an extra pair of gloves or socks, or to catch a seldom night's sleep when Tails was resting on the cot in the workshop. On the blue moon nights that both he and Tails actually shared the bed, it was with a sense of nostalgia. Back when they hadn't had a steady home, when they island hopped, following Robotnik across the planet, they had slept anywhere – from the ground to a hotel – and Tails had always sought Sonic's warm body as a pillow in all of those instances. Now, they were both older, but that didn't matter to either of them. They were still best friends and brothers, and they would sleep comfortably, even when they had to share a bed with someone else.

So, it came to pass, on this cold December night, when it was too chilly for Sonic to sleep outside and the living room was a mess of sleeping friends, the two had no choice but to share a sleeping space. Usually, this would have been fine. This night, however, there was a problem.

They had been fighting again.

Sonic and Tails had been having more and more spats lately, about their future, the 'Littles' (as they had taken to calling the smaller versions of themselves), and just life in general. Sonic was feeling cooped up in the workshop, half because Eggman hadn't attacked in a while, and half because he felt guilty leaving Tails alone with the Littles, so he had taken to letting out his frustration in bursts of anger. Most of the time, this irritation was released toward a video game, but there was a one-in-a-one-hundred instance when he accidentally said something scalding to his little brother. He was in constant contact with Tails, always around him, and their personalities didn't always mesh well. Tails was a worrier, a homebody, and a snarker, while Sonic was care-free, could go anywhere and feel at home, and a smartass. This caused some unwanted tension when either one of them was feeling unhappy, and they rubbed each other the wrong way.

This particular instance had been started by a simple statement, one meant to cause laughter, but Sonic had bristled, replying back without thinking.

"_Your butt's gonna be completely fused with that couch if you don't get out and do some running, Sonic."_

"_At least it won't look as freaky as __your__ backside."_

The hedgehog had immediately regretted it and tried to apologize, but Tails' expression had shut down, his face flat, and he turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. Sonic had hit himself upside the head so many times with the video game controller that he was borderline-concussion before trying to follow his friend, but Tails had locked himself in the workshop, and the sounds of contained explosions could be heard through the soundproofed door.

Sonic had sighed, allowing his friend a small pass on explosions indoors just this once. He cursed himself as he walked away, his steps heavy, and scaled up the stairs. He had faceplanted on the bed in his room and hadn't moved until little Sonic had knocked on the door and told him that their friends where arriving for the party.

The older hedgehog had groaned, _the Winter Celebrations, of course_. He and Tails were set to have the party this year, and amidst the stupidity of his comment and Tails' brooding, he had totally forgotten.

Waving his younger self off with a flick of his hand and a grumbled _"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute_," Sonic sat up, rubbing a hand down his face. He had screwed up this time, he realized. Tails was still extremely sensitive about his genetic situation, and a comment like that was extremely insensitive of Sonic to say. He was in for some serious apologizing in the future.

With a sigh, he dropped to the floor, his socked feet slipping slightly on the wood. Sometime during his period of self-deprecation, he had kicked his shoes off, but he wasn't bothered to put them back on. He ran a hand through his quills, ignoring the way they split at the ends slightly, the stress of the day showing, before standing completely and shuffling out of the room. He slid his way down the banister, landing lightly on his feet and using his leftover momentum to skate across the hardwood floor in his socks few extra feet.

He turned the corner into the living room and froze. The room was spotless, with traditional white streamers draped from the light fixtures, the mantle, the TV, and the curtain rod. The streamers were a pristine white that almost glowed in the light of the setting sun, with intricate snowflake designs on them. Usually, they were passed down from parent to offspring, but since neither Sonic nor Tails had any living memory of their parents, they had spent a few hours one day making their own set. They weren't nearly as extravagant as most Mobian's, but they were laced with small touches, inside jokes shared between the two brothers, and were special to the both of them. Seeing them in their rightful place sent a pang of remorse through Sonic unexpectantly.

The room was packed with people, all friends of Sonic. There was Knuckles and his younger self, raiding the bowl of grapes someone had set on the snack table; Vanilla and Vector were standing off to one side talking while Espio was close by, keeping a watchful eye on Charmy; the bee himself was pestering Cream, tugging at her ears and asking her to go outside and make snow angels with him while Cheese buzzed around his head, scolding him in the Chao language; Rouge was talking with Amy a few feet away, smiling ruefully and winking conspiratorially toward her; Little Sonic was laying on the ground on his belly, his legs kicked up behind him and crossed at the ankles, playing a video game with Tiny Tails; Shadow was sitting nearby, attempting to hide the fact that he was smiling at something the younger hedgehog had said; Blaze and Silver (the hedgehog not having gone back to the future yet) were seated on the couch with a game of checkers placed between them.

What shocked Sonic the most, however, was his own Tails. The thirteen year old had just walked out of the kitchen with a large plate of chili dogs balanced between his hip and arm, and there was a large smile on his face. He placed the platter on the table before scooting into the party, seating himself down besides Cream. He waved Charmy away before presenting the ten year old rabbit with a small wrapped package. She looked at him questionably before ripping into the paper. Her eyes alighted at the small bundle of flowers hidden within and she squeaked before launching herself at him. He hugged her back, grinning. As soon as she pulled away, he rose and made his way around the room, handing everyone a small present.

His actions commenced the present-giving stage of the evenings and soon gifts were being passed around. Somehow, Sonic found himself dragged onto the couch after Blaze had scooted over to sit next to Silver, and a small pile of multi-colored boxes grew around his feet. He smiled thankfully to everyone, watching everyone tear into their own gifts before he followed suit.

He watched Tails open everything with a trained eye, having gone through numerous birthdays and holidays with the fox. He knew the subtle changes his face made when he received something he really didn't want, and the face he made when he was trying to hide his surprise.

Multiple screwdrivers. There were at least three, one from Silver, one from Charmy, one from Vanilla. Cream gave him a small red vest, and both Knuckleses a small first-aid kit (they said they had noticed that the _Tornado-4_ was missing one, and this kit was put together by their own hands, with everything they thought he could possibly need. The gift was surprisingly heart-felt, for the echidna.). Blaze, Amy, and Rouge all claimed that their gift for him hadn't arrived yet (Sonic assumed they were all getting him something together), Espio and Vector gave him a couple CDs, all of them human artists, and Shadow asserted that he didn't give gifts, and Tails was just lucky that he had shown up. Little Sonic and Tails declared that their gifts weren't ready yet, since they hadn't been informed of the party until it was too late to get anything.

Finally, Tails had come to the last present, wrapped carefully by Sonic's nimble fingers. It was a yellow paper, with the fox's two-tailed insignia penciled carefully all over it. Tails eased his hands over the package, searching for the seam, and he pulled it open slowly. Inside was a small unmarked box, held closed with a single piece of tape. He slide his finger between the lid and the side, pulling the tape away from the box and lifted the cover away.

His eyes lighted at the sight for a half a second before he remembered that he was supposed to be angry with Sonic, but that one instance was enough for the hedgehog to know that he had done well. The fox lifted the gift out of the box almost reverently, staring at it.

It was a pair of aviator goggles, the strap red in color with the same insignia on the wrapping paper stitched into the right side. On the right side were the words _Miles "Tails" Prower_ and on the inside of the strap, hidden from everyone except the one meant to put them on, were the words '_Best little bro' a hedgehog could ask for'_. The lenses were the best on the market, coated with a wind, water, and scratch resistant polymer, and they darkened in color depending on the brightness of the sun.

Tails licked his lips, not looking up. A small smile quirked the sides of his mouth upward, but that was the only outward sign he made. He placed the goggles back into the box before closing it and gathering it and all of his others gifts into his arms. He carried them into the workshop before reappearing empty-handed. He took half a second to thank everyone and the large group of people replied back with gusto.

The rest of the night went by quickly. Sonic never got a chance to talk to Tails, half because the traditional games kept separating him from his friend ("_I want Sonic to be on _my_ team!"_) and half because the fox seemed to be avoiding him.

The festivities ended with a traditional toast to a happy and safe future, and Vanilla decided that it was too late to head home and asked if she and Cream could spend the night. Tails relented easily enough, and somehow, every single one of their guests – sans Shadow and Rouge – asked if they could stay. In the resulting arrangement, Little Sonic and Tails gave up the guest bedroom to Vanilla and Cream, and Amy claimed the couch. Blaze was offered the bed in Sonic's room, but she refused claiming that she would be more comfortable in the armchair. The rest of the motley group slept on the floor.

Sonic had decided that it was better for everyone if he slept in his own bed, because he had been having fitful dreams the past few days, and he didn't want to accidentally roll over on top of someone and stab them with his quills. Tails retreated into the workshop in the middle of the night, getting away from the bunch of sleeping bodies because he had positioned himself at the edge, and Sonic took that as his cue to go to his own room. He scaled the stairs slowly.

And, that was how Sonic ended up sleeping by himself. Tails was obviously still angry with him, that much was obvious from the way he avoided even making eye contact with the hedgehog, and he had every right to be. What Sonic had said was brutish, rude, and completely out of character. He had no idea what had come over him, but he regretted it more than anything he had ever done. He wished for a chance to apologize, but Tails would hear nothing from him.

He slept fitfully, his dreams plagued with images of Eggman capturing and torturing his friends; he was running, but never able to catch up. His breath came in short bursts and his legs pin-wheeled under the covers, twisting them around his lower body in a cocoon.

He woke with a start, bolting into a sitting position. His quick movement upset something heavy next to him, but he barely noticed. His eyes were wide, the green a dark and stormy color, half wild in the darkness. His gloved fingers groped across the covers, trying to figure out where he was. His head whipped back and forth as his eyes tried to take in his surroundings.

"Mhph. Sonic." A voice to his right jarred him out of his confusion, and he swung his head around toward it, his neck almost cracking from the strain. "Lay down. Tryin' to sleep."

"_T-Tails_?" Sonic hissed, hand landing on something soft and round – the fox's head. "What are you doing here?"

The thirteen year old set Sonic with a glare. "Trying to sleep." He reiterated, snuggling lower into his pillow. "Now, either lay back down or get out."

Sonic huffed, crossing his arms. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I _was_." The fox replied, rolling over onto his side so his back was facing Sonic. He didn't say anymore.

"What changed your mind?"

Tails sighed, rolling back over so he was facing his friend. "You knew what I wanted."

"What?"

"New goggles. You knew what I wanted." He paused. "It was like you could read my mind."

Sonic chuckled. "I'm an expert, remember?"

Tails grunted, turning over once again. "Can we sleep now? I've gotta get up early tomorrow to help T2 make breakfast for that mob sleeping in the living room."

Sonic rolled his eyes before rotating to lay on his belly. "Fine. And Tails?"

A questioning sound.

"I really am sorry."

"Apology accepted, Sonic, like always."

Hedgehog dreams were calm and peaceful after that.

* * *

><p><em>Wrote this in one sitting without any idea what I was gonna do with it. Happy though. ^^<em>

_**Next time:**_ Adjusting to sharing a house with anyone is tough, but how do you do it if it's an incarnation of yourself? How will our heroes cope during those first 48 hours? Find out in _A Beginning is a Very Delicate Time…_

_Reviews are cherished. _


	27. A Beginning is a Very Delicate Time

.

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"A beginning is a very delicate time…"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Oh. My. Gosh. Have you seen the screenshots from Sonic 4 episode II yet? _HAVE YOU_? Go. Go find them. Now.

Prepare for war, Sonic the Hedgehog…

* * *

><p>"<em>The portal's gone! Sonic! The portal's <em>gone_!"_

"_I know Tails; I know."_

"_What're we gonna do? !"_

"_Well, T2, you'll have to come live with us!"_

"_Really, Sonic?"_

_A sigh. "Yes, Tails. That's all we can do…"_

o0o

"Well," Macro-Sonic said, pushing open the door to the Workshop with his hip and gesturing forward with his left hand, swinging the keys around his index finger, "welcome to our humble abode."

"_Humble?_" Little Sonic asked, stumbling through the door, staring up at the large two-story house. The workshop itself was actually a garage/workshop-house combo, with a door separating the kitchen from the workshop. The front door opened to a small foyer type area, with the main staircase straight ahead and the living room to the left and the kitchen to the right. The upper floor was three rooms, two of them bedrooms and one a bath. Obviously, the lower floor was more lived in, if the wear and tear visible on the couch was a testament to anything, but the whole house was sparely furnished, speaking of inhabitants who barely frequented the house. Still, one could tell that whoever owned the place had money that they funneled only to their home, as there was a large entertainment system dominating the living room, with a huge TV taking up almost a whole wall. Dingy-looking speakers hung from precise places on the walls, allowing complete sound-emersion, and at least five video game systems were shoved into a modified coffee table in the corner adjacent to the television. A stereo was placed into a square hole in the wall, and Sonic flipped this on as he passed it, a very quiet rock melody filtering into the whole house from hidden speakers. "This place is more than I ever dreamed I'd have."

"Woah." Tiny Tails mumbled before the green eyed hedgehog could answer, his head stuck through the doorway to the workshop. "How many planes do you _have_? !"

The larger fox rubbed the back of his neck, steering his younger self away from the door. "Somewhere between five and seven. I'm not sure how many I have rented out."

"_Rented out_?" The small hedgehog gagged, stumbling again. "You have enough planes to rent them out?"

Tails shrugged. "We only need one, and I have a few that I rescued from the junk yard. They're not doing anything besides sitting there, so I let other people use them – for a price."

The light blue Mobian quirked an eyebrow. "You're robbing them blind, aren't you?" He nodded in the direction of the living room. "That's how you can afford all of that stuff in there."

The elder hedgehog chuckled. "Actually no. Our price was agreed upon with the mayor of Station Square. We weren't allowed to set our own price because the _Tornado Fleet_, as they're called, is top-of-the-line, but also slightly-illegal where weapons are concerned. They look the other way when Tails invents something potentially dangerous, and we don't charge an arm and a leg for them to use the planes."

"But isn't this private land? How can they control what you do?" _Especially since you're Mobians and they're humans_, was the hidden message to that statement, but Sonic just shrugged.

"Yeah, it's private. The Mystic Ruins officially belongs to Mobians, but the humans claim it too. Their laws extend out here, including probable cause. If we don't want to be searched, we have to follow the rules." He shrugged again. "Doesn't' matter much anyway. Neither of us is here much anymore; we're always out and about keeping the peace."

Little Sonic just shrugged, his jaw working in a circle. "So, you're just racking in money without actually having to work… Impressive."

Sonic shrugged. "I've got a lot put up in savings. If Tails ever wants to head to a human college, he'll have no problems, money wise." He paused, seeing the way the younger hedgehog's eyes kept straying toward the living room. "The most expensive thing in that room is the video game consoles." He stated, like he was talking about the weather. His younger self went slack-jawed, trying to equate the large television with a smaller dollar sign than the video games. "Everything thing else was pulled out of a junkyard and tinkered into what it is today by our resident little bro'." He mussed Tails' bangs and the fox scowled.

"Impressive."

"It's nothing." The fox's tone ended the conversation, and the four newfound friends stood awkwardly in silence for half a beat before the larger of the two hedgehogs clapped his hands together in a sharp quick sound.

"Okay!" He yelled shortly, rubbing his hands together. "Let's get you two moved in!" He smirked, leaning down so his mouth was even with the ear of his younger self. "How do you feel about hammocks?"

o0o

The next few hours passed in a blur of boxes and personal items. All four worked together to get Tails – the elder – moved out of the second bedroom and into Sonic's bedroom. The fox had volunteered his room for the younger Mobians to live in for the duration of their stay, and Mini-Sonic had tried to decline, getting ready to just get comfortable on the floor in the living room or outside in a tree, but his older self had cut him off, declaring "Mi casa es su casa."

When little Sonic stared at him for a few seconds uncomprehendingly, he sighed and resisted the urge to facepalm. "My house is your house… literally, in this case."

Despite the words, the ten-year-old still tried to argue, but Tails shoved a big box into his unsuspecting hands, cutting him off. "Take this down to the Workshop for me, would you Sonic?" He asked sweetly, pushing his younger self away when he tried to climb on his head to get a peek inside. "And _please_…" he set the small hedgehog with a meaningful look, "do _not_ drop it." Sonic gulped, nodding uncertainly.

"Oh, c'mon, Big-Me!" The four year old kit complained as he jumped up and down in an attempt to see into the box. "Lemme see!"

Tails' own eyes widened and he glanced at the elder Sonic for help. The hedgehog was easing small rocket models off of the top shelf of a bookcase set catty-corner on the far side of the room, but he paused in his work to make eye contact with his little brother. Seconds later, he was across the room, scooping the smaller fox into his arms.

"Hey now," he chuckled in a low voice, tickling the child on the belly, "why don't you and me let the big kids finish things up here and go get some ice cream, huh?"

The four-year-old, effectively distracted at the mention of the sugary treat, latched onto the dark blue one's face with his hands, his gloved palms smashing his cheeks inward toward his mouth. "What kinda ice cream?" He asked seriously as little Sonic scooted out of the room.

"Minty chocolate chip, Mini-little bro. Your favorite."

The little fox put on a show of thinking it over, placing his right hand on his chin and screwing his eyes shut, as if it were a tough decision. "Okay!" He declared after two seconds of deliberation. "But only if I can ride on your shoulders!"

"Deal." Sonic chuckled, hoisting the four-year-old to his desired position. It was a little awkward, because the young one couldn't exactly sit like he would normally on someone's shoulders, because of Sonic's quills, but he wedged himself between Sonic's neck and his collarbone easily enough. "You'll have to watch your head though; I'm taller than you're used to."

The fox huffed playfully, digging his hands painfully into the fur on Sonic's head. "Let's go already!"

Sonic laughed, rolling his eyes. He made his way to the door, making sure to duck low enough so that the fox's head could clear the doorframe. At the staircase, they crossed paths with Mini-Sonic, now box free.

"Hey Sonic!" Tails yelled, waving his right hand in giant pinwheels. "I'm taller than you now!"

Sonic laughed, sharing a knowing look with his older self. "No way!" He replied good-naturedly, eliciting a happy nod from the four-year-old. "How's the weather up there?"

Tails rolled his eyes. "No different than down there. The air pressure's the same and the moisture level can't possibly fluctuate because of a foot of height change…" He trailed off, catching sight of the looks the hedgehogs were giving him. "What?"

The elder chuckled. "You're really smart, kid."

The fox looked down at his hands at that, and Mini-Sonic patted his little brother on the leg. "Where you headed?"

Suddenly, Tails' head whipped up and his eyes narrowed. "To get ice cream!" He practically yelled, shoving at the blue skull in front of him. "Go, Sonic! I'm starving!"

The elder winced, but listened nevertheless. "There're only a few boxes left," he commented as he threw his leg over the banister. "Once you finish, you should drag Tails down here and join us." Then he was gone, sliding down to the bottom floor, the little kid on his shoulders squealing the whole way.

Making a mental note to tell Tails never to do that on his own, Sonic turned on his heel and marched back into the bedroom that was meant to be his own. The twelve-year-old Tails was hovering in the air, hammering some heavy duty hooks into the ceiling. His hammer hit in a series of sharp _thumps_, and Sonic could feel his heart aligning itself with the steady rhythm.

"What's that for?" He asked when Tails paused to grab another hook from between his teeth. The fox yelped, dropping the hammer and whipping around, hand held over his heart.

"Don't _do_ that!" He commanded, taking a deep breath. "Jeeze…" He mumbled to himself. "I forgot how quiet you used to be…"

"Sorry," Sonic apologized, rubbing the back of his neck. "Gotta be quiet to sneak up on the 'niks."

Tails sighed, blowing his bangs out of his face. "Wish that were still true." He placed his hands on his hips, coming in for a landing next to the ten-year-old. "Those," he pointed at the hooks, changing the subject, "are for the hammock I'm gonna hang for you. Figured you wouldn't want to share a bed with the younger-me every night." He grimaced. "I kick."

The present tense slightly threw the hedgehog, but he filed it away for future thought instead of commenting on it. "Thanks." He mumbled through the side of his mouth. He adored his little brother, no doubt, but he had been sharing the same sleeping space with the child for the past year or so. Sometimes, he just wanted some legroom to himself for a little while.

"No problemo." Tails replied, sending a thumbs-up toward the younger version of his big brother. "All that's left to do now is to haul those boxes into Sonic's room and then I can get back to work on those blueprints I left when I went to the party…" He trailed off, mumbling to himself.

Sonic felt his face twist into an unhappy expression. "You're not gonna come downstairs and eat some ice cream with us?"

Tails didn't reply as he had hoisted a box off the ground and was stumbling toward the door. Sonic followed his lead, trailing behind the fox as he headed for the twenty-year-old's bedroom. They set the boxes in a corner, staking them on top of each other.

"Phew." Tails breathed, leaning against the wall with a hand held to his forehead. "I really need to move most of this stuff down to the Workshop…" He turned toward the boxes, reaching inside one. "Sonic doesn't need all this crap clogging up his roo-" He was cut off.

"Tails," the small hedgehog demanded, "come downstairs and eat with us."

The fox rolled his eyes. "I can't. There's so much that needs to be done an-"

"Not even for mint-chocolate chip?"

Tails' eyes closed and he sagged out of defeat almost as soon as the words were out of the hedgehog's mouth. Sonic grinned successfully, grabbing the fox's wrist and dragging him out the door and down the stairs.

_At least I still know his one weakness_… Sonic thought to himself as he shoved the twelve-year-old into the kitchen. Inside, the older Sonic and younger Tails were on opposite sides of the small room, both ducking behind something. They both had a half-gallon of ice cream in their hands and their gloves were discarded to places unknown. The walls around either Mobian were spattered with globs of melting ice cream, dripping to the ground like blood. Mini-Sonic gaped at the small ball of ice cream clutched in either of their right hands, his mind clicking through what could have possibly happened.

"_ICLAMTAILS!_" The dark blue Mobian yelled at the same time that the four-year-old screamed,

"_IGETSONIC!_"

Suddenly, both new arrivals were being dragged in opposite directions by two equally sticky hands. Tails was pulled down behind the tipped over table while Sonic was yanked into the furthest corner, behind the end of the counter.

"_What_," Mini-Sonic demanded as his young charge pulled the white, pristine gloves off of the hedgehog's tan hands, "_is going on here_?"

"Ice cream war." Tiny Tails replied, digging his golden fingers into the ice cream tub and clapping a huge, shapeless ball of the cold treat into Sonic's palm. "Winners get first dibs at the video games."

Sonic, ever the ten-year-old boy, felt his eyes light up at the mention of video games. "Are casualties acceptable?"

The small fox nodded, grin splitting his face. "Just don't knock over the plant in the window. It's important to the bigger-me." Sonic peaked around the corner, confirming the positioning of the fragile potted plant.

"Got it."

Across the kitchen, the same conversation was taking place, in hushed tones and sharp words. The elder Tails was resisting, claiming that he could be doing better things with his time, but Sonic set him with his patented _big brother look_, effectively ending the fox's refusal. He sighed, scooping a glob of ice cream out of the tub.

"I can't believe we're wasting mint ice cream…" He mumbled, peering over the top of the table. Almost instantly, a small ball of frozen dessert sailed over his head, clipping his ear. The fox hissed, falling backwards. "Okay." He declared, a dark look on his face. "Who you want to take out first?"

"That's my little bro!" Sonic yelled happily as he leapt over the table from his crouched position, chucking his projectile at the small face of the younger fox. It hit dead center, and the kid fell backwards, slamming into the wall dramatically. Almost immediately, the ten-year-old hedgehog had leaned from around the corner, throwing his own frozen bullet toward his older self. It smacked into the taller Mobian's chest, sending him stumbling to the ground.

Macro-Tails gasped, going to his big brother's side. "You okay Sonic?" He demanded.

"Yeah." Sonic chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Now I know what it means to be _a la mode_."

Tails rolled his eyes, dodging downwards as a green ball of ice cream whistled toward his head. "Divide and conquer?" He asked as he hoisted the hedgehog into a sitting position.

Sonic nodded, his eyes tracking his younger self as he started to rush around the room in a dash of blue. "Like always."

"Maybe this is gonna work out after all," Tails commented as he made dodged the pass made at his head by his younger self. "A beginning is a very delicate time, after all…"

Sonic grinned back, nodding and avoiding an ice cream ball thrown by a light blue streak. He spun on his heel, nailing that same blue blur with his own ice cream shot. "And if this beginning includes ice cream fights, then we're in for an awesome future!"

* * *

><p><em>Pointless fun. (Gasp, Sonic X reference!) <em>

_There was an issue last chapter that was brought up quite a bit, and I suppose I should ease your souls. The problem was the fact that Tails would probably forgive Sonic in about fifteen minutes. However, you must realize that there was a party that Tails was distracted by and he didn't want to make a scene in front of all of their friends. Besides, if he hadn't stayed mad at Sonic, then the ficlet would have been pointless and unnecessary. So sue me. _

_For anyone who has Generations, did you know that there's a hidden statue room? Well, there is. SEGA just publically released the codes for the statues on their blog, but the list isn't complete. I've had the full list of codes for a while (along with all of the statues) and since they've finally told the public about them, I've decided to make my list available to anyone who wants it. (The SEGA list doesn't include Amy, Cream, Chip, Jet, and some of the others.) If you want it, just drop me a line and I'll send it to you through PM. (If you're Anonymous then just hit me up with an email address.)_

_Reviews are cherished._


	28. Stupid Should Hurt

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Stupid should hurt."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>There were so many choices for this prompt. _So many_. So, I just decided to write 'em all.

P.S. You wanted Olympics. You got Olympics. Don't be surprised if you don't like it. I'm not a Mario fan. At all. (Speaking of Olympics, me and Yami-sama42 have an Olympics based drabble series now. You can read it on our shared account: Hikami42.)

Guest writer in the middle! Thanks to Yami for gracing this chapter with extreme stupidity and hilarity! (Ranae the Cat belongs to Yami, Brad the Penguin belongs to me, and George the Buffalo belongs to both of us.)

(New line breaks on this one. o0o means a change of section; unconnected to what happened before. ooo means change of scene; connected to what happened before.)

* * *

><p><em>Stupid should hurt.<em>

This phrase had somehow become the theme of the workshop. It was the default phrase when someone did something idiotic. When Tails blew something up, when Sonic broke a window with a rock, when Knuckles sent something expensive crashing to the ground when he was wrestling with his younger self, when Mini-Sonic accidentally set fire to the grass in the Chao Garden…

It was a general statement, one to cover all bases, but with the proper inflection, it could send the perfect message. Stress on the first word ("_Stupid_ should hurt.") signaled that the action really was unwise and plain foolish. Making the middle word the most important ("Stupid _should_ hurt.") made it obvious that whoever was experiencing the pain from their actions deserved it. Inflection on the final word ("Stupid should _hurt_.") indicated that the action was in need of some pain they weren't experiencing, it was so crazy.

Usually, when one of them said it _without_ inflection, all of the words were equal, showing that the speaker was in shock, annoyed, or just weirded out.

Now, was defiantly one of those times.

Mini-Sonic and Tails were nowhere to be found, probably hanging out at the old house in Green Hill. Macro-Tails had been in the living room, reading a science journal, when Sonic rushed through the room, telling the fox not to close the door behind him after he left. Tails had just shrugged, going back to his magazine.

Seconds later, Tails' ears and bangs were being whipped to the left as a blue blur barreled into the house, through the open door, at half his top speed. Despite his obvious discomfort at going so slow, Sonic still grinned as Tails jerked around to watch him.

The hedgehog turned forward again, jumping onto the stair railing and grinding _up_ it. He sped right to the end, but, instead of jumping off at the end, he kept going and shot straight up into the air. Milliseconds later, he hit the ceiling, crumpling against it. Unfortunately for the hedgehog, the Workshop was built to withstand a bomb blast, so a flimsy Mobian body hitting it was like a fly slamming into a windshield. He slithered to the ground, moaning.

Tails rushed up the stairs, skidding to a stop a foot from Sonic's twitching body. "You okay?" He asked obligingly, snickering under his breath.

Sonic tilted his head backward, sending his best friend a flat look. "I just hit the _ceiling_ with my _face_. How do you _think_ I feel?"

The fox shrugged, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. "I've never experienced that before. How can I possibly understand what that feels like?"

Sonic groaned, reaching up and rubbing his temples. "Smart ass."

Tails ignored the jab, rolling his eyes and dropping to his knees next to the hedgehog. Carefully, he extracted the gloved fingers from the hedgehog's blue head, running his own hands across the speedster's skull to check for problems. "What were you thinking?"

"Wanted to check out the new-" Sonic broke off with a hiss as Tails pressed a little too roughly on the blue Mobian's forehead. "-the new soles you invented. With the false bottoms." He clenched his eyes shut.

Tails sighed, sitting back on his knees. "Good news is, you don't have a concussion." Sonic heaved a sigh of relief. "Bad news is, you're gonna be hurting for a while."

The hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Tails rose to his feet and placed his hands on his hips. "Serves you right." He said, reaching down to the help the hedgehog to his feet. "Stupid should hurt."

o0o

The belief was that if they participated in the human traditions when invited, they wouldn't be charged for all the property damage they committed when Eggman went on a rampage. Most of the traditions were simple things: making a Christmas speech, cutting the ribbon at a major opening, being present for the presidential inauguration.

Usually, the requests are not physical or possibly-humiliating.

_But,_ Sonic thinks to himself as he nudges his younger self forward off the airplane – private jet, sent by the lovely people in Beijing – and onto the tarmac, carrying a sleeping four-year-old fox over his shoulder and yanking his golden, twelve-year-old counterpart behind him, _there's a first time for everything_.

At first, the request had seemed to be a joke. "_You are cordially invited to participate in the Beijing World Olympics. You have been selected to compete in a new branch of the competition, extending to Mobians and other non-humans."_ Sonic had laughed it off, too busy trying to attempt to figure out Eggman's next move and keeping Tails from blowing up the house. However, the letters just kept coming, and eventually they chose to accept.

One time-traveling adventure later, and they were accompanied by two extra friends. Both younger versions of the hedgehog and fox were excited at the prospect of going to visit Earth – having never left Mobius before – and had jumped at the chance to board the next space shuttle to the blue planet.

Now though, Mini-Sonic was apprehensive, if the way he was shying away from the cameras being shoved into his face was any clue.

"Is this really necessary?" He asks, squinting into the sharp flashes. "We're nothing special."

The elder Sonic, too busy shaking a reporter off of his arm, can't respond. He looks down at the four-year-old fox in his arms, seeing him blinking owlishly up at him. With a sigh, he sets the child on the ground, wincing when the young one almost trips in his sleep riddled state.

The younger hedgehog sends a withering glare at the reporter who had gotten in the fox's way, and grabs him by the arm, pulling him toward the end of the runway, where a dark, stretch limo is waiting for them. "Let's just get out of here."

Tiny Tails squeaks, his large brain struggling to comprehend the loud mass of humans surrounding him. "Wat's goin' on, Sawnik?" He asks through a yawn, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Earth." Is all the hedgehog says, looking back to make sure his older self is following.

The other hedgehog has been cut off from them by a large colorful group of people. One of them is a small man – smaller than a human, but still with the same physical features, leading Sonic to believe that his species had followed the same evolutionary path as the Earthian's – in an obnoxiously bright red hat and a pair of overalls. He is waving his arms like a crazy person, as if trying to emphasize his point. Sonic is hiding Tails behind him, a glare set on his face.

With a sigh, little Sonic turns on his heel, pulling Tails into his arms and helping the fox to affix himself on his shoulders, to keep the child out of trouble and in Sonic's sights. He makes his way back to his older self, sending anyone who dared to try to talk to him skittering away with a glare. When he arrives, he stays behind the foreign group, twitching at the thick accent the red-hatted male – obviously the leader – was speaking in.

Sonic scowls, ignoring completely what the small, humanoid man is saying, and simply grabs his older self by the arm. Despite the darker blue one's taller stature, he manages to send him stumbling backward.

"Excuse us," Mini-Sonic barks, tone of voice voiding his polite words, "but I'm not allowed to associate with idiots after six o'clock."

Not waiting for a response, though he does note the shocked expression on the red-hatted figure's face, he turns on his heel and stalks away, dragging Tails and his older self after him.

"Sonic…" Tails trails off, glancing down. "It's only 2:32."

Sonic scowls, rolling his eyes. "It's 6:32 somewhere." He glances backwards, glaring at the motley group of people. They have moved on from their shocked state and are now hassling Knuckles and his younger self.

Seconds later, the small humanoid goes flying past them, hands covering a severely bleeding nose.

Knuckles stalks up, his younger self chuckling under his breath and smirking. "Stupid should hurt." Knuckles mumbles, reaching backward for a high-five from his younger self. He then blows softly on his knucklaws, telling the story of what had happened in one smooth move.

o0o

_Written by Yami-sama42 until the next o0o linebreak_

Vanilla _REALLY. NEEDED. TO RUN. ERRANDS._

So when she showed up at the workshop that day, her only warning a brief call to tell the residents she'd be over within the hour, the older Sonic wasn't sure what to expect. She came in with a flourish, her brown eyes cheerfully optimistic and her dress pristine as always.

"Thanks for allowing us to come over at such short notice, Sonic. I feel bad leaving Cream alone at the house when I have my errands to do," the adult rabbit smiled, shaking the hedgehog's hand.

Green eyes blinked slightly. "May I ask what kind of errands these are?"

"Adult errands, dear," Vanilla replied with a wave of her hand.

The twenty-year-old blinked again, brows furrowing. "But… Can't you tell me what they are?"

"Sweetheart, I just told you that they're for _adults_," the bunny reiterated, grin faltering.

"Well, yeah, but _I'm_ an adult to-" Sonic was cut off by a furious shouting.

The older Mobian had literal fire in her eyes. "_I_ _HAVE ADULT ERRANDS TO DO!_" With these words, she growled and moved over to the nearest table and flipped it over, spilling the items resting top of it onto the floor and send it travelling across the room. The yelling ceased after that and Vanilla regained her composure. "You're too young to understand, dear."

Sonic trembled, slightly cowed at the force of the rabbit's anger at him. He blinked several times to control himself before straightening. "Right. Adult errands. _Got it_."

"Thanks again, Sonic." Vanilla smiled and turned slightly before pulling a pouch out from seemingly nowhere. Before Sonic's eyes, she scooped out a bit of the pouch's contents and threw them on the ground. The blue one barely heard a vaguely mumbled phrase that ended in "-_lley_" before she disappeared in a plume of green fire and smoke.

At that point, the younger Sonic trudged into the room, rubbing tiny specs of sleep from his eyes. "Whazzgoin'non?" he mumbled, speech slurred in his weariness.

"You're going to be watching Cream today, little-me," the elder spoke up, clapping a hand on the smaller shoulder.

"Wha? Why?" the black eyed hedgehog asked, a curious look on his face.

"Everyone else is going to be gone from the workshop today and you're the only one available," the green eyed one informed him, turning his head to watch Cream walk in, Cheese fluttering above her head. Giving her a short wave, he smiled and turned on his heel to pick the table back up.

"Why am I the only one that has nothing to do? There's no way _everyone_ else is busy…" the smaller male grumbled, crossing his arms.

"I've got…" the taller trailed off with a sour look on his face before his grit his teeth and hissed out the next word as if it was acid, "_errands_… to do."

"_Adult_ errands?" Cream bit in, adding her two cents with an expression that tried too hard to be innocent.

"NO, no. Um… _Hedgehog_ errands." He looked somewhat panicked.

"Then why can't _I_ go?" The smaller blue Mobian frowned.

"Because…" the bigger trailed off, eyes searching for an escape, "they're _adult hedgehog_ errands." He looked towards the stairs. "Tails! Both of you; let's go already!"

The light blue one gaped. "_Tails_ gets to go but I _don't!_?"

The cobalt furred one stood quietly for a couple seconds as the fox duo arrived downstairs. Before the ten-year-old could say anything, the twenty-year-old had grabbed the kitsunes and ran for the door, shouting, "Take care of Cream!" over his shoulder.

"But she's the _exact same age as me!_" the younger cried out, knowing that it was a useless venture as his older-self wouldn't hear him. At the sound of giggling behind him, he turned slowly and took in the sight of the small rabbit standing innocently in the middle of the living room, a bright smile on her face. Shoving the door closed, Sonic grumbled and stomped past the girl, choosing to flop down on the couch. Glancing at her, he blinked. "Why is there a demented blue fairy floating around your head?"

"That's Cheese! He's my Chao," she proclaimed proudly, looking at the Chao with fond eyes.

"…What the hell is a Chao?" Sonic muttered, looking the tiny creature over. It seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Cheese flew at Sonic with blinding speed, crashing into a peach tummy. The air was forced from his lungs and he coughed. "What the-" He cut himself off as he saw the Chao pulled something small, but menacing out…

**BAM.** He was hit._ Flick._ His ear twitched. "Ow, what was that?" The hedgehog looked up to see that he was being assaulted by the Chao via a small, yet harmless rubber hammer. "Okay, that's annoying."

"Do you wanna play with me, Sonic-kun?" the little girl asked, her high pitched voice soft.

"No thanks," the hedgehog grumbled, crossing his arms in a pout.

"How about a tea party?" she continued, tilting her head to the side cutely.

"Uh, hello? I'm a guy; dudes don't _tea party_," Sonic scoffed, barely raising his eyes to watch his 'charge'.

**BAM.** _Flick._ "Ow."

Cream's eyes lit up with fire as all the lights except for the one above her went out. Her head spun around in a circle like an owl and she appeared to have sharp and deadly teeth in her mouth. The room was doused in red as she spoke, her voice deep and demonic. "_Play with me, Ssssonic…"_

Sonic fell off the couch, dark eyes wide in terror as the rabbit-slash-demon-child took an agonizingly slow step forward. The blue one trembled, fear lighting his features as he nodded enthusiastically, a cold sweat breaking over his brow. "Y-yeah, th-that's a GREAT idea, C-Cream!"

Everything went back to their normal appearance at that; the lights came on as if they were never out and Cream looked like a sweet, young bunny again. The only visible difference to the scene was the terrified hedgehog on the floor.

"Great! I'll go get the tea!" Cream squealed as she skipped out of the room.

Sonic shuddered, eyes still darkened with his fear. He curled into a protective ball, mind wandering. He had three things on his mind; how scared he was of Cream; the possible reasons that his older-self had made HIM watch the rabbit (linking back to reason numero uno); and where the heck his older-self WAS (linking back to reason numero dos).

**BAM.** _Flick._ "Ow."

ooo

Several miles away in a dimly lit room, dust particles floating around in the air, four figures sat around a low table, each of them holding a fan of cards out in front of them. Green eyes scanned his hand before his gaze flicked to look at each person once. All of a sudden, his free hand ripped out to point an accusing finger at his next victim. "_You!_ _You _must have something I want!" He glared, turning his cards face down before slamming his card hand on the table. "_Knuckles_…" the name was hissed, "do you have any threes?"

The red one smirked smugly causing a tick to appear over Sonic's blue brow. The younger Tails openly snickered, the older trying not to laugh as well. "Looks like you'll be swimming with the fishes today, _Sonic_."

Sonic blinked and sat back, a worried look on his face. "But… but I can't swim; you know that!"

Knuckles blinked. "You can NOT be serious…"

Sonic leapt to his feet, eyes wide. "_You can't make me get in the water_!"

The echidna sighed. "Stupid should hurt…"

"_YOU CAN'T MAKE MEEEE!_"

ooo

Ten minutes and lots of arguing later, the young hedgehog was angry and humiliated. The rabbit girl paid no heed as she practically danced around him in her girlish charm. Setting her new friend a cheerful smile, she brandished the tea pot in front of her and tilted her head again. "Would you like some more tea?"

Forcing a grin, he averted his eyes. "Ah, no thanks. I still have plenty. That was thoughtful of you," he added as an afterthought. He fought down a fierce blush and sighed noiselessly.

**BAM. **_Flick._

Suddenly the doorbell rang, startling the two out of their respective ponderings. Jumping up with the speed he was admired worldwide for, Sonic shot up and was out of the room before the bunny could blink. When he reached the door, the first thing Sonic noticed was a furious chorus of whisperings, one angry and two more condescending and placating. Raising a brow, the blue one opened the portal to the outside world, blinking at the trio of characters outside.

The group of Mobians, a group consisting of a female cat, a male penguin and a male buffalo, stared down at the small form of the ten-year-old Sonic, each in varying states of disbelief. The hedgehog himself glared at them each in annoyance. He was flushed and embarrassed, but somewhat grateful for the distraction, despite what he was wearing. Cream had somehow caught and pinned the speedster down and had forced a dreadfully pink, frilly tutu on the boy against his very vehement protests. It had taken five minutes of shouting and one terrifying head-spin scare later for Sonic to realize he was outclassed.

It seemed that the buffalo had gathered his courage at the moment and spoke in a deep voice. "Um, hello; is this the home of Sonic the Hedgehog?"

**BAM.** _Flick_.

Before the hedgehog could reply, the penguin glared and smacked the taller Mobian beside him. "Of course it's not, Killa! Just look at him! Sonic's, what, twenty now? This kid is obviously just some guy with masculinity issues."

"But, Brad... I thought-"

"George! I told you; stop believing all of those rumors you hear! It's not a good thing!"

The cat sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. "Guys, can we just g-!"

"Shut up, Renae!" her companions shouted. She hissed at them.

Sonic grumbled and huffed. "Look, this is fun and all, but I'd really-" He was cut off by a high pitched voice.

"_Nancy~! When are you coming back?_"

**BAM.** _Flick._

Flinching, the blue one turned and spoke in a fake falsetto voice, face burning. "I'll be there in just a second!" Turning back to the older Mobians, he glared and grunted out normally, "Thanks for stopping by. Please leave now," before slamming the door shut once more.

"See? I TOLD you we had the wrong place."

"Shut up, Brad."

ooo

Several hundred miles away in a small, run-down shack strategically placed in the center of a dense wood in the dip of a large canyon, Shadow the Hedgehog, self-proclaimed "Ultimate Lifeform", shuddered as a strange and unpleasant feeling washed over him. "I sense…" he muttered, his eyes quickly examined his surroundings with a deadly paranoia, "a disturbance in the force…" He shuddered once more before trudging down the hidden stairwell to go into his own personal cave, fully intending to hide until the crisis passed.

ooo

_.:Thirty minutes later:._

The light blue hedgehog skidded around a corner, eyes wide and fearful. Behind him, one could hear the faint sounds of a high pitched voice calling out. "_Sonic~! Where aaaaare yoooou?_"

"Gotta run, gotta hide!" He panted lightly, adrenaline pumping. "_She's gonna GET ME!_" He threw himself down the hallway, throwing himself into the nearest room, the door closing behind him with a _slam_.

Moments later the workshop exploded in a firey ball of metal and wood.

Sonic woke up gasping. "A dream? It was a dream; all of it?" He looked around him, eyes searching the familiar furniture of the living room. Getting up, blinked before heading for the kitchen, fully intending to get a glass of ice cold water.

He never made it that far.

Standing beside the kitchen table was his older-self and Vanilla, Cream standing not two feet behind her mother, Cheese flying lazily around them. Heart beating a faster pace in his confusion and growing panic, he looked at each of them before his black eyes rested on the taller hedgehog. "What's going on here?"

The older Sonic grinned at his younger-self as he waved a hand towards the rabbits. "Ms. Vanilla here wants us to keep an eye on Cream while she goes and runs a few errands. We got nothing better to do, so I told her, 'Why not?' Wha'd'ya think?"

Later, the green eyed one would wonder why his smaller counterpart ran screaming from the house.

ooo

In a small dark room, Vanilla the Rabbit chuckled and grinned, watching the day's proceedings with amusement. Smirking, she settled on her elbows to watch. "Those poor fools won't know what hit them…"

o0o

A thirteenth birthday party: a momentous occasion in any culture. Though, in the Mobian society, it was a rite of passage. It was the birthday when one is legally able to leave school, allowed to apply for a hovercraft license, and to forge a life for themselves. Mobians matured much faster than humans, despite their equal life-spans, and could therefore handle themselves at a much younger age. Their feral ancestry ensured a strong mellowness early in life, and the detachment most non-mammal based Mobians felt for their young encouraged the early legality age. More often than not, most Mobian children were abandoned by their parents at a few years old, simply because of the way evolution had morphed the brains of the Mobian species. They loved their children, but didn't feel the need to care for them for too long. Of course, there were also parents who never left, staying glued to their offspring until they were eighteen; it depended on the situation and the individual, but the issue still remained.

The thirteenth birthday was the most important, the moment when a Mobian child was allowed to spread their wings and start changing lives. Sonic was determined to make his little brother's party one to remember, unlike his own small affair. The only person to remember the hedgehog's thirteenth birthday was Tails, and the fox didn't have the appropriate means to throw Sonic a huge blowout party. They had sat on the couch at the old house together, watched Sonic's favorite movie at the time, and just savored the moment. It had been perfect for Sonic, but he felt that something that small wasn't good enough for Tails.

However, it would be hard for him to do anything monumental. Tails never went to school; his genius IQ allowing him to test out of every grade school topic they could throw at him, so he didn't have leaving classes to look forward to. He could already drive a hovercraft _and_ small aircraft, special circumstances allowing him to get his pilot's and hovercraft licenses as early as age five (once again, genius IQ coming into play). And as for forging a life for himself… He had pretty much achieved that too. He had a steady source of income, he was a national hero, and he had a family in all of his friends. Tails had succeeded in something that took most adults their whole lives in about seven of his childhood years. He was set for life, with multiple grants sitting nicely in his bank account for research, and all of the income he was raking in from renting out his extra planes ensured that he would never be hurting for money. Sonic himself was just as set, but it was more impressive for a twelve-going-on-thirteen-year-old than his twenty year old self.

Still though, he _wanted _to make this party life-changing. He started planning it months in advance, with Amy's help. The pink hedgehog girl was the queen of organization and she stormed into the party-planning armed with an agenda and a cell phone, getting the basics from Sonic and then taking over everything. Sonic just had to deposit whatever money she needed into her bank account and she got everything done.

It was to take place in a small gathering hall in Station Square, with Tails' favorite band – the Underground, a group of hedgehogs who wailed into the microphones and pulled off impressive riffs on their guitars – playing an hour set, a large cake, and more mint candy than the fox could possibly consume. The party was also split in half for the younger Tails – who insisted that he was still four, because he was not technically in the time stream and was therefore not aging – who was just happy to follow his older self around.

On November 24th, Sonic dragged Tails to Station Square. The train across the water between Mystic Ruins and the city was empty, correlating with the human holiday happening that day, and they made it into the city with few problems. Sonic grabbed his little brother in his arms after that, rushing through the nearly-empty roads at break-neck speeds, sending Tails whooping with delight, despite his age. They reached the party space soon enough and the hedgehog placed him unsteadily on his feet.

Tails looked quizzically at his best friend. Sonic smiled and pushed him toward the door, and Tails shook his head before pulling on the door and easing it open slowly.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Tails was nearly knocked over by the wall of sound that barreled at him from inside. At least 50 people were in the room, from his closest friends to acquaintances to those had forgot he knew. His eyes lit up at the giant cake resting on the table in the middle of the large group and he jerked his head around the room to take in everything. On a small stage in the corner, the band started to play quietly, letting the party kick off before they picked up the pace.

"Happy birthday, little bro'." Sonic leaned down and whispered into Tails' ear and the fox turned his head just enough to see him. He smiled back before leaping into the hedgehog's arms in a huge bear hug.

"Thank you, Sonic." He mumbled back, digging his fingers into the dark blue fur on Sonic's shoulders.

They held onto the embrace for a few more seconds before the taller Mobian set the thirteen-year-old on the ground. "Go say hi to all of your guests. I'll go check on the food." Tails' face broke into another smile and he rushed off, bumping into his younger self after a few feet. They shared a hug before the taller fox placed the younger on his shoulders and they immersed themselves into the crowd.

"You did good." A low, accented voice spoke from behind Sonic and he turned slightly to catch sight of the smaller, light blue form of his ten-year-old self. He nodded toward him in greeting.

"Is everyone here?"

"Everyone except Knuckles."

Sonic's brow wrinkled at that and he rose to his toes to try to see over all of the taller people in front of him. Almost immediately, he caught sight of a red head moving around amongst the mass of people and he glanced down at his younger self.

"_Older_ Knuckles," he clarified, catching a glance at the twenty-year-old's expression, "Young-Knux was the first one here."

"Really?"

"Yup. Wanted to help hang balloons." He shrugged. "Guess this time period is good for his social life."

While they spoke, the two hedgehogs moved toward the kitchen area of the hall, where Amy was organizing everything like an army general. They watched with a critical eye as she directed the chili dogs be placed here, and the drinks there. Eventually, she turned just enough to see them out of the corner of her eye and she flipped around to greet them with a dazzling smile.

"What do you think, Sonic?" She asked, almost out of breath. "Everything's perfect, don't you think?"

"Absolutely." Both hedgehogs said at the same time, sending her identical thumbs-ups and bright smiles.

"Good job, Amy." The elder Sonic continued, eyes straying on the large plate of chili dogs. Amy sent him a glare and he quickly looked back up at her. "Do you know where Knuckles is?" He questioned.

She shrugged, pushing the platter away from the hedgehogs. "He said he was coming. He's just late."

"Typical." Sonic huffed, rolling his eyes. "Considering that he doesn't get invited to much, he's usually late for everythi-"

His voice was cut off as the door was thrown open by a spiked fist. It hit the wall with a loud _clang_, sending a small tremor through the foundation. The party slammed to a halt, everyone turning to look at the newcomer.

"Speak of the devil."

Knuckles, seemingly unaware of the crowd staring at him, strode forward, pushing through people. He approached Tails, shoving past Vector with more force than necessary, and smirked at the birthday boy.

"Sorry I'm late, kid." He said without a hint of remorse. "Happy birthday." He then held up his left hand, which had previously been hidden behind his back, showcasing his present. Tails stared at it, his blue eyes wide.

"Uh…" He trailed off, unable to form words.

Sonic chose this moment to ram his way into the conversation, also pushing Vector out of the way roughly. When he caught sight of the thing dangling out of the echidna's hand, however, he froze.

"What," he asked slowly, weighing his words, "the hell is _that_?"

"What does it look like?" Knuckles demanded, shaking his present for emphasis. It made a strange sound, somewhere between a choke and a hiss. "It's a cat."

Tails continued staring, while Sonic blinked slowly and deliberately, his hands clenching at his sides. The cat was feral, not Mobian, black, with a white belly, face, and paws, and looked extremely angry, growls escaping out of its throat every few seconds. Knuckles was holding it by the scrape of the neck, adding insult to injury, and its tail was lashing.

"I repeat: what the _hell _is that?" Sonic snapped.

"It's Tails' birthday present."

Sonic's eye twitched, despite his effort to keep it still. "A _cat_, Knuckles?" He demanded, voice laced with disbelief. "Where'd you even get it?"

"We found it on the Island." A young voice called from the crowd, and the younger Knuckles pressed forward, Vector flinching away from him when he passed.

"How'd a cat get on the Island?" Tails asked, finally over his shock.

"No idea." Both echidnas answered together, and the elder tried to push the feline into the fox's hands. "But it's yours now." He said lazily, even as Tails resisted. "Take it."

"N-no," Tails held his hands out, palms toward the echidna. "Me and feral cats don't get along."

"Oh, c'mon, Tails." Knuckles taunted, grabbing the feline under both of its front legs and waving it back and forth in front of the young teenager's muzzle. "Look how cute it is."

The fox looked ready to refuse again, but a high pitched squeal off to the side cut him off and everyone whipped their heads toward the sound. Mini-Tails, having just emerged from the bathroom with his older brother following him, rushed forward, tails flapping happily behind him. He squealed again, young age shining through. "A kitty!" He yelled happily, extracting the animal from Knuckles. "For me? !" He cradled the feline, and it immediately started rubbing against his head with a purr, all traces of the growling predator gone.

"Knuckles," Sonic's voice was deathly still, no inflection to betray tone or intention, "what possessed you to bring it here?" He demanded, gesturing wildly toward Tiny Tails and his new pet. "I've already got an emotional four-year-old, a moody ten-year-old, and a genius thirteen-year-old living in the house. I don't need a cat."

"Oh, c'mon Sonic." Knuckles argued back, clapping the hedgehog on the back. "It'll teach him responsibility." The dark blue Mobian sent him a flat look. "Look, it loves him!" The echidna changed tact, realizing the flaw in his logic.

Sonic glanced at his younger self, noticing the apprehensive look on his face. His eyes moved to the four-year-old, and his green orbs softened as he watched the child coo and hug the cat. "Well…" He trailed off, and Knuckles chose to take this as a victory. He smirked again.

"Don't worry; cats aren't that hard to take care of." He said reassuringly, right as Mini-Tails walked in front of them, and the cat caught sight of Sonic. It halted mid-purr, opening its mouth and showing off sharp canines, and hissed right at the hedgehog.

Sonic's eyes hardened and he glared at Knuckles. "Take it back." He spun away from the twenty-one-year-old, stomping away, mumbling under his breath. "Stupid should _hurt_." His grumbles trailed off the further away he got.

ooo

The next day, a letter mysteriously appeared on the table in the workshop. It was written in flowing script, and when Sonic read it, he had to squint it make out some of the letters.

_I don't know who you think you are, Sonic the Hedgehog, but I will not be keeping the animal that you shoved onto me last night. Luckily for it, Maria loved cats, so I am unable to kill it. Expect "Mr. Snuffles" back within the hour. _

_Signed, Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform_

Three hours later, the cat was not returned, and Shadow never showed his face.

Sonic smirked to himself, reclining back against the couch. "Looks like you've found a permanent home, Mr. Snuffles." He chuckled, watching as the small character on the screen was catapulted up and off the screen by a golden, flying figure. "May you ease the soul of our resident Ultimate Faker."

* * *

><p><em>I apologize immensely for the wait on this chapter. Life decided to rear its ugly, bolus, disorienting face and declared that I had had enough vacation time here in Internet-Land; it threw all of its lemons at me at once, nearly concussing me, and I have been unable to find some sugar to create some lemonade. Between another story hijacking my brain, an English essay over literary elements in short stories, and Shakespeare's <em>Hamlet_ and its undecipherable language, my brain has been unreachable for the past week and a half. Couple that with an infinite amount of social issues: a tussle with one of the most important people in my life (leaving me awkward, dazed, and semi-heartbroken after we eventually got past it), prom plans, tests, scholarships, Church-obligations, and one failed suicide attempt (not me – a distant cousin who lives across the state (Texas, that's a long way)). I have been positively shattered. If you are the praying kind, can I possibly request that you send up some goods words for me to whoever watches over you? I fear I may be on the road to nowhere. _

_(Oh, and Kiersten dear, I apologize for you having to hear of all of this secondhand here, if you see this. I simply could not bear to whine at you like I usually do.)_

_So, that's enough of my excuses and dumping. I humbly hope you accept this horrible excuse for a chapter (written in rare off-times). It pains me to post it, honestly, because I feel it is not nearly as good as some of the others, but it needs to be done. Life goes on, as they say. Stupid really does hurt in this instance. _

_Now, to find some sugar. _

_(Good news: The next chapter is complete, except for editing, and should be up sometime tomorrow. Accept this as an apology gift?)_

_Reviews are cherished. _


	29. We All Need a Little Trauma

.

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"We all need a little trauma."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Souls are delicate things, easily scared and broken, but also easily fixed with patience and tender words… Only the one that shares your soul can possibly _comprehend_ the torment and totality of terror that you go through when you must face your greatest fear; alternatively, they also are the only one who can grasp the kind of kinship you feel with those closest to you, those who you tell everything too. They understand the very _essence_ of your being, because they _are_ You; You _are_ Them. Age knows no limit to the understanding of the one who shares a timeline with you…

In quintessence, the Other-You you see is more than a glance through time; they are an opportunity for you to analyze your actions in the past, the present, and the future…

…if you're lucky enough to notice…

* * *

><p>"Remember Tails, there's extra food in the bunker, and never to open the door to strang-"<p>

"_Sonic_!" A laugh. "I got it. We'll be fine."

"Yeah, Little-Me. I leave him alone all the time. He can take care of himself."

A huff, directed at the most recent speaker. Then, to the laughing thirteen-year-old: "Just… watch the younger-you, would you? He's not good by himself."

"Sonic," an eye-roll accompanied the exasperated tone of voice, "I'm _him_; he's _me_. I'm pretty sure I can handle anything he can throw my way, especially since he's essentially throwing at _himself_." A wave of hands toward the open door and waiting taller hedgehog. "_Go_. Have fun stalking Eggman. We'll have a nice, calm evening building exploding toasters."

A sigh. "Fine…" He trailed off, turning toward the door. "Wait," he paused, foot in the air, and swiveled his head to glare at the taller fox, "_exploding_ toasters?"

Young hands were placed on thin, light blue shoulders, their owner propelling the ten-year-old to the door. "Nothing serious. Only a two on the INES." He shoved his friend out the door, closing it on his shocked face, and turned the deadbolt, securing himself and his juvenile charge – also a younger version of himself – in the house for the night.

"Wait! _Tails!_" The frantic voice of the ten-year-old incarnation of Sonic filtered through the thick material of the door, a series of sharp bangs signaling that the hedgehog was pounding on the wood. "A two on the INES is called an _Incident_!"

Tails bit his lip, leaning with his back against the door to keep it shut in case Sonic decided he needed to come back in, but his older brother – also the twenty-year-old Sonic – pulled the smaller hedgehog away from the door, reassuring him with, "Oh, c'mon. The house is set to withstand a nuclear blast up to a level five; they'll be fine."

The younger hedgehog sputtered, but the sound of receding footsteps signaled that they were walking away. Eventually, all sign of them was gone, only the small _woosh_ of the wind decipherable through the wood.

Tails sank to a sitting position, bracing his back against the door. He blew his bangs out of his face, making them puff up in gentle swoops. Gravity brought them back down like rays of sunlight, blocking his line of vision once more. He groaned, running his hand through the fringe and yanking the annoying pieces of fur away. The fox leaned his golden head back, resting it on the heavy-duty door, sprawling his legs out.

His younger self was taking a late-afternoon nap, unaware that the hedgehogs had left them alone for the night. Eggman had attacked Westside Island unannounced, trying to reassert his dominance after his last ploy in Holoska had fallen apart. Tiny Tails was still a little wary about his old home in Emerald Hill on Westside, because of the cruelty he had faced there: bullies, uncaring adults, near starvation; and it had been decided that he shouldn't visit the Island when he was still so young. Unfortunately, he was too immature to stay home by himself, despite his strong brain, so his older self had volunteered to stay with him; partly because he had work to do, and also because he himself was still a little too antsy to go back to Emerald Hill.

Still though, he felt uneasy about his big brother and his little-big brother (it was still strange for him to see little Sonic and feel the adoration he had for him, even though he was technically three years older than the hedgehog) heading off to fight Eggman without any backup. A thick stone of anxiousness lodged itself in his belly, pulling at his heart like a magnet to metal, and he banged his head against the door again, harder than before. The knob rattled at the stress, but the door didn't budge past that, only awarding the fox with a headache.

Eventually, Tails rose to his feet, and he padded across to the living room, throwing himself onto the couch in the way only a teenager could. His hands probed between the couch cushions, searching for the remote, and he let out a small sound of success when his gloved fingers caught on something square-ish. He wrapped his hand around it, tugging it up and into the light with practiced grace. It spun through the air, and smacked Tails right in the face. He grunted and yanked it away from his smarting nose. Rubbing his face, he pressed a few buttons, his eyes lighting up with glee when he saw that his favorite movie was on, and he settled into the couch.

Approximately an hour later, he was woken from a light sleep by something heavy landing on his chest. He jerked awake, hands automatically reaching up to grab whatever was sitting heavily on his torso, restricting his ability to breathe. When his fingers grabbed familiar fur, he lifted his head, looking blearily at the small golden form resting on top of him.

"T2?" He yawned, propping himself up with his elbows.

"Good morning, Mechanic!" The small fox trumpeted loudly, grinning cheekily. "Did you have a good nap?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"But you didn't."

"Fair enough."

Silence reigned from the small fox as he looked at his older counterpart expectantly. The larger canine ignored the unwavering stare, instead grabbing the kit around the middle and half-pushing him onto the floor so he could get up. He started toward the kitchen, but a small mass latched itself to his side, hindering the fox's ability to walk, and he glanced down. "What?"

"Are you gonna answer the question?"

"Yes. Are we done?"

A scowl. "That wasn't the question."

"It sure sounded like a question."

"But, it wasn't _the_ question."

"Well, then, which specific question do you want answered?"

"Did you have a good nap?" This was huffed, annoyance starting to plague the four-year-old.

Tails chuckled, dropping to one knee so he was slightly shorter than his younger-self, but still more or less able to look him in the eye. "It was a lovely nap, T2, until something _heavy_ decided to use my stomach as a _trampoline_."

"I'm not heavy!" It was a weak protest, but was made stronger when the tiny kit jumped onto the taller fox's back, almost knocking him over. "_See_?"

"Nope…" Macro-Tails croaked, stumbling as he tried to stand with the extra weight. "Not heavy… _At – at all_…"

The younger scowled, crossing his arms, though this went unnoticed by the choking elder. "You're a terrible actor."

Large Tails laughed outright at this, straightening easily, all signs of strain completely gone. He patted his younger self on the leg. "_We're_ a terrible actor, T2."

"No," the smaller argued, shaking his head, "I think that's just you. Sonic says that I'm a great actor…" He trailed off, digging his hands into the fur on the top of his larger counterpart's head. "Where _is_ Sonic, anyway?"

The flinch was so slight, Tiny Tails could have been imagining it. "They went to Westside Island." The elder paused in his trek to the kitchen, waiting for the child sitting on his shoulders to answer.

Silence for three beats, then: "Robotnik again?"

Macro-Tails let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. Crisis averted. "Yes." He started forward again, placing the kid on top of the table when they arrived. "How about we make some food? The Sonics are gonna be gone until at least tomorrow, so we get the house to ourselves tonight."

"I'm not hungry." Answered Mini-Tails in a subdued voice, hopping down onto the floor. He turned toward the door, but paused, as something occurred to him. "Since the Sonics aren't gonna be here…" He trailed off, waiting for his elder self to look at him. "Can we sleep in the living room?"

It was a strange request, and Tails placed his hands on his hips as he studied the young version of himself in front of him. He tried to put himself back into the mindset of the four-year-old, and his brain ticked, flashing through possibilities. Eventually, he settled on something simple.

Tails was a social child. Until he was about six, he slept next to Sonic every night, curling into the hedgehog's stomach. This would be the first night in a long time that the hedgehog wouldn't be present… He probably wanted something warm to snuggle up against, and he didn't want to force himself into the bed the two elder Mobians shared without his older self's consent.

The taller of the two foxes dropped back to the ground again, placing a gloved hand on the thin shoulder of his younger self. The afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window, flickering on and off, as if a god was playing with a light switch, as the clouds blocked it from reaching the Workshop. The light created a golden halo around the small child, making him look almost angelic. "Sure, T2." He winked. "Why don't you go build a tent?"

Elation, excitement, and glee lit up the young face, and he clapped his hands in front of him, squealing out of delight and turning tail. He dashed out of the room, a drawn out "Yaaaaaay!" following him.

Tails' eyes wrinkled around the edges and he couldn't help but smile. Somehow, through the naïve actions of his youth, the four-year-old had managed to charm _himself_. Tails remembered his days as that child, knew every trick he could pull and every thought that would ever cross his brain, yet he was still entranced and ensnared as much as everyone around him.

Now he knew why Sonic called him devious.

He shook his head at his younger self's antics before standing fully and turning back to the kitchen. The child would be hungry by the time he finished his tent, no doubt, so he decided to get ahead of him and start cooking something. He grabbed a pot from one of the cupboards, turning on the sink and filling it three-quarters of the way. In one smooth move, he shut off the water and swung the pot onto the stove, flicking on the heat to the highest setting. With a sigh, he glanced upward at the window, and reached up to yank the blinds all the way up.

He froze.

In the distance, the sky was a seething mass of dark clouds, seeming alive as they moved in a tumult of thunder and lightning. The immediate sky above the workshop was blue, sunlight still pouring through the window, but the black was slowly infusing itself, overcoming the serene light blue and morphing it into something sinister. With a gulp, he glanced toward the living room, catching just the faintest golden blur as his younger self dashed around the house, blankets and pillows nearly overcoming him.

Glancing down to switch the stove off, he turned on his heel and yanked open the door to the workshop. Hopping down the stairs two at a time, he called out in a commanding tone, authority thick in his words.

"Check weather conditions! Mystic Ruins!" He demanded as the giant supercomputer sitting in the room whirred to life, its external sensors picking up his words. Its monitor – taking up almost a whole wall – blinked on, a small hedgehog running across the large expanse of the screen signaling that it was processing the request.

"_One hundred percent chance of rain, Wise One_." The computer droned in a genderless voice, news articles and multiple weather radars popping onto the display in layered windows. "_Hurricane warning until seven hundred hours_."

"A _hurricane_." Tails' reaction was more of a statement than a question. He fell back into the rolling chair behind him, his arms and legs sprawling uselessly.

"_Category One, named Nicole_."

Tails groaned. "How did I not know about this?"

"_Calculating response_…" The voice replied as the CPU purred. "_Creator Tails has not been in the workshop since last week. Televisions have not been placed on news station. Creator does not receive news paper_."

Tails groaned again, rubbing his temples. "Activate Protocol Six."

"_Activating Protocol Six_…"

Several things happened at once. Large sheets of metal whirled downward, like garage doors, over the windows; the generators huddled in the corner of the large expanse of the workshop kicked to life, pulling the house off of the electrical grid and saving it from possible meltdown if the dwelling received a power surge; multiple computers went into sleep mode, conserving energy; the large, doors leading into the hangar and the workshop cranked closed, just as the first few drops of rain started to make a staccato rhythm on the roof; the industrial lights illuminating the workshop were replaced by the soft glow of low-power bulbs.

Tails sighed, getting out of his chair and grabbed a flashlight out of a nearby toolbox. He checked the batteries with a flick of his finger, letting a strained grin cross his face as it flared to life. He glanced around the room once more, before nodding grimly.

"Sleep." He commanded before heading for the steps. Behind him, the screen of the supercomputer flickered and died, its hardrive going silent.

He emerged into a dark house. The sunlight was completely gone, devoured eagerly by the gloomy clouds whirling their way across the heavens. The rain had picked up, bombarding the metal-covered windows with giant pellets, the erratic cadence of their impacts setting Tails' teeth on edge. The lights above him dimmed as the generators struggled to light the whole house, and Tails shook his head, grumbling. He stalked across the kitchen and threw open the side door, wincing as a strong gust of wind tried to fling the piece of wood back into his face. He braced his foot against the jamb, holding it open with his sneaker, and leaned around the thin door, throwing his whole, sensitive head into the gale.

The rain stung as it slammed into his face, and his narrowed his eyes into the spray, trying to see the small metal box that held the circuit breakers. When they had originally built the house, it had been decided to place the box on a light pole located adjacent to the house, instead of inside. Cursing Sonic for this genius move, Tails reached out with nimble fingers, undoing the latch that held the box closed, and forced it open against the wind. With a grimace, he ran his hand down the multiple switches, thanking Chaos he had had the foresight to label them all with Morse code. Finding the one he wanted, he pushed it into the 'off' position. Then, in a flurry of erratic movement, he smashed the box closed and fell back into the house, allowing the door to slam closed behind him with a bang. The lights above him brightened, and Tails breathed out a sigh of relief.

Every section of the house was on a different circuit, for instances such as this. If, for some reason, they needed to conserve energy, he could just turn off the power supply to one part of the workshop, allowing the energy to funnel to a different sector. He had thrown the switch of the second floor of the house, shutting down the electricity in all of the bedrooms, but enabling the bottom half of the house to become brighter and safer.

Blowing his bangs out of his face, Tails stomped across the kitchen, grabbing a hand towel off the counter to dry out his ears. Shaking his head like a dog, he managed to fling a large majority of the water away from his fur, and he scowled at the spatter, but decided to let evaporation work its magic and clean it for him.

After tossing the towel onto the table, he ambled into the living room, wringing the water out of his gloves. He glanced up once he had crossed the threshold, and froze in surprise.

A massive blanket edifice had been constructed in the middle of the room, stretching from one wall to another. The couch, arm chair, and part of the rocking chair had been swallowed by the draped mantles, weighed down at strategic points by thick stacks of books, and other heavy things. The perimeter of the fort-like structure was marked off by pillows, no doubt symbolizing huge, stone walls in the imagination of the four-year-old. There was movement under the roof of the tent, and something was lodged in the middle, propping the drooping center up.

The rain had reached torrent levels, slamming into the roof of the workshop with vigor, though it was muffled by thick insulation. The television was softly playing a child's cartoon, and Tails glanced around in a fruitless search for the remote, and only shrugged when it came up for naught. Instead of being distressed, he dropped to his hands and knees, crawling over the pillows and sticking his head under the wall of blanket in front of him.

Inside the tent, it was a literal child's dream-fort: blankets piled together created huge fluffy beds, pillows acted in the place of chairs, a lantern hung from a hook carefully attached to the couch, allowing illumination in the dark, blanketed world. Tails drew in a breath, childish impulses from days past worming their way to the surface as he stared at the fort.

"Hi, older-me!" A young voice greeted, crawling from underneath the hanging flap of another blanket – Tails was starting to wonder where all of these bedspreads had come from – and the elder fox took note; _there was more than one room to this tent. _ "What do you think?" He swept his arms around, gesturing to his masterpiece, a giant beam directed at the elder fox.

"It's amazing!" The enthusiasm in Tails' voice was completely genuine, and he wasted no time crawling inside completely. "How many different rooms you got?"

"Four or fi-!"

A loud boom of thunder cut him off.

Almost immediately, both foxes tensed, their ears rising to high-alert. Mini-Tails puffed up, his fur standing on end, while his larger counterpart merely bit his lip, worrying it until the thunder had echoed away.

Next to him, Tiny Tails was shaking, his tails double their size and wrapped around his body protectively. His natural defensive instinct to appear larger than he was caused his fur to practically rise ninety degrees, enveloping his small form in a halo of fuzz. The light from the lantern filtered through the thin fur, making the fox practically glow, and the elder of the two foxes easily wrapped his arm around the shivering shoulders of his past-self, rubbing soothing circles into his back.

Seconds later, the low rumble came again, this time cracking sharply seemingly feet from the house, sending the foundation rattling. Something crashed in the kitchen, but Tails was too absorbed in covering the ears of his smaller self, his own ears flush with his skull, trying to block out the sound.

It wasn't a well-known fact that Tails was afraid of thunder and lightning; in fact, only two people besides himself knew, one his big brother and the other a red echidna. Thunderstorms were scarier than Robotnik, worse than Sonic when he was angry with the fox, and were the only thing that could turn the hyperactive fox into a quivering ball of immobility. At the age of four, they were the ultimate evil, something no one could control, and almost supernatural – the flash of light and then the boom of sound… It had to be the gods fighting; there was no other explanation.

Tails' opinion on the weather phenomenon was no different at thirteen-years-old. He was still scared stiff, though he could now shake himself out of the terror-haze he was plunged into when lightning fractured the sky a few moments after the initial event. He still sought out Sonic's strong hand of comfort though, curling into the hedgehog's side like a tiny child when a storm cropped up. The hedgehog didn't question him, using his own phobia of water as a comparison. He understood more than anyone what it was like to have to face your fear when you weren't ready, forced into a situation you had no control over, only able to cover your ears, close your eyes, and _take it_.

So, Macro-Tails didn't take any offense when his younger self mumbled "I want Sonic…" between sniffles as another thunderclap shook the house. The young teenager wanted Sonic too, though he was unwilling to voice this allowed. He was the older one here; the one in charge; he needed to be strong, despite the fear chilling his bones.

He pulled his younger self into his lap, yanking the nearest blanket lying on the floor over the both of them. Wrapping his arms around the little fox's torso, he leaned his head on the bony shoulder of his tinier identity, allowing his bangs to tickle a small cheek.

The kit relaxed into his older self, the position natural to him. He had sat in Sonic's lap too many times to count, and this was much more natural. In that moment, past met present, and the time stream almost folded over itself as the two incarnations of the same person – both with a shared past and the same future ahead of them – overlapped, seeking solace from a shared fear in someone who _understood_ completely; more than Sonic and his fear of water, more than Knuckles and his fear of ghosts.

The trembling of the younger fox translated pure terror to the elder; the gentle wringing of gloves signaled the same emotion in the older fox, conveying a front of strength.

"How about I tell you a story?" This was mumbled, the vibrations of the deeper vocal chords tickling Mini-Tails' shoulder where the speaker's throat was resting. The little one sniffed once, screwing his face into a brave expression, and he nodded once, sharply.

A chuckle pulsated from the elder fox, adding a strange rhythm to the percussion sound of the rain against the ceiling. The wind whipped at the house, howling out strange pitches and reminding Tails of haunted souls, trying to find their way to their final resting place. Thunder roared again, sending the small fox's shoulders into a hunch, almost reaching his eyes.

Once the thunder resided, the older kitsune cleared his throat, picking his head up from its resting place. "Have you ever heard the story of Planet Freedom?" Tails shook his head 'no,' not trusting his voice to work properly in his frame of mind. "Well, Planet Freedom was a strange world. It had a surface, like we do here on Mobius, but that was a dark place, dead and full of evil. The people on Planet Freedom lived among the clouds, on floating pieces of land. They called this 'The Land of the Sky,' for obvious reasons. The ground was called 'The Land of Darkness.'"

The small fox was enthralled already, his eyes wide and staring. His ears slowly picked up from where they were pressed into his head, encouraging his older self to continue.

"The people on Planet Freedom were like us, Mobians. There were also humans, but they weren't fully human. They were part animal, somehow, some with ears or tails like those of a cat or the nose of a dog. Some were strange elf-like creatures, with pointed ears and strange rounded noses. The planet was peaceful; a war hadn't marred its people in living memory.

"Until," Tails paused dramatically, and thunder pounded outside, helping the theatrical air. After his younger self had recovered, he continued. "Until a great evil rose from the surface, from The Land of Darkness. It was said to be nothing more than a blob, blue and partially see-through. It ravaged The Land of the Sky, completely obliterating whole cities and families. No one could control it, and many believed that it had to be a god – what else could cause such destruction?"

Tails could feel his younger self dropping in his arms, the quiet lull of his voice helping to ease the kit to sleep. He slowly began rocking his body back and forth, hoping the steady rhythm would push him into dreamland.

"Eventually, all of The Land of the Sky was destroyed. All of the people who had lived there were either killed or had evacuated to the surface, which the evil avoided like it was diseased. Ultimately, the evil reached the last piece of floating land, and it was prepared to destroy it. However, before he could, a young girl – with hair so red it seemed to blaze in the sun – came forward and talked it down, somehow. No one knows exactly what happened, just that both the girl and the evil disappeared that day. The last floating piece of land vanished as well, only appearing on really clear nights."(*)

"…that's Angel Island, isn't it?" A young, sleep-riddled voice inquired, and Tails nearly jumped.

He glanced down, noticing the drooping eye-lids of his younger self. Thunder boomed again, but both managed to ignore it, too caught up in the story. "Some believe it is." Macro-Tails answered gently.

"Is it true?"

Tails stiffened slightly, pausing for a fraction of a second in his rocking. "It's just a myth, but most stories are known to have a grain of truth in them. You'll have to take that up with Knuckles," he answered eventually, his expression guarded. "Only he knows the true history of his people." He smiled then, shifting slightly to get into a more comfortable position.

The kit in his lap yawned, leaning his head back to rest on the bony shoulder of his older self. "Where did you hear this story?" He asked, voice whimsical with sleep.

Macro-Tails mulled that over, attempting to trace back to the exact moment when he hearing the tale for the first time. His brow furrowed, and he pursed his lips, shaking his head. "I don't remember, Mini-Me…" He answered after a second of hesitation.

"Hmm…" The younger yawned again, snuggling deeper into the elder's lap. "You must've learned it from you."

The thirteen-year-old stared at the half-asleep form. "What?" His tone confused, he quirked an eyebrow.

"This is the first time I've heard it." The other answered, blinking owlishly. "You must've learned it from the older you, and then forgot when exactly you learned it when you went back in time, but still remembered the story."

Big Tails mulled his over for a few seconds, his multiple IQ points cranking through the possibilities. Eventually, he came to the conclusion that it was plausible, and he nodded slightly toward his younger self.

Thunder crashed again, and the small fox stiffened, yanked away from the edge of sleep. The blue eyed Mobian sighed and started rocking again. "Tell me another?" The child asked after a time, voice muffled.

"Sure." A smile was cracked. "How about the story of how Sonic decided that skateboarding off a ramp – _over a lake_ – was a good idea?"

The juvenile fox nodded enthusiastically, snuggling even deeper into his older persona's lap. Slowly, as the tenor voice of the thirteen-year-old spoke vigorously, Tiny Tails could feel his eyes drooping. He tried valiantly to keep them open, but the stillness of the air around him – despite the turmoil happening outside – eased him into drowsiness.

Now that he was on the brink of sleep – in that place half between complete slumber and wakefulness – he could almost imagine that the world was singing him a lullaby. The rain was the percussion, the steady and unpredictable beat of a drum. The wind was the brass and woodwind instruments, swelling through the harmony of the piece with each gust, rising and falling in crescendos and decrescendos of sound. The creaking of the house was the movement of a bow across a string instrument, thick and tuneful. His older self's voice was the star of the song however, the thing that wormed its way into his mind and eased him. It was the melodic line, the movement that drove the piece. It was powerful, but at the same time delicate; it filled the room, reigning over all of the other pieces of the tune, even the cymbal crash of the thunder.

Eventually, the words being spoken washed away the other sounds. The strings went first, followed by the brass and woodwinds. The percussion faded slowly, hanging on with one more burst of crash cymbal. However, the voice was stronger than the thunder, and Tails focused solely on melody of the story, ignoring the harsh retaliation of the thunder claps.

With the soft tenor of his older self hanging in his ears, and the thought that someday, _that would be his voice_, strong enough to fight off thunder, powerful enough to overcome fears, gentle enough to lull someone to sleep, he slipped completely into the darkness of slumber.

o0o

The next morning, as nature was celebrating its new beginning, two hedgehogs trudged their way onto the plateau the workshop was situated on. The landscape around them wasn't a disaster, only a few trees toppled and a small amount of missing shingle-work on the roof of the workshop a testament to what had transpired last night. The ocean swelled, choppy despite the fact that the storm was gone, and the grass glistened in the sunlight.

The elder of the two hedgehogs punched a code into the keypad next to the door – effectively disarming the storm-protection system – and shoved open the door with his shoulder. It swung inward to a dark house, all of the lights doused and everything extremely still.

The ten-year-old rushed into the room, dark eyes glancing this way and that, trying to catch sight of the golden form of his charge. When nothing immediately met his line of vision, he started to slightly panic, breath hitching in his throat. His older self placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head when the other blue Mobian turned to look at him. He pointed evenly toward the living room, where the tinniest corner of a blanket-fort could be seen.

Sharing a confused look with each other, the two hedgehogs soundlessly tip-toed toward the room, pausing for only half a second to admire the giant tent. They both toed the perimeter of pillows before dropping to their knees and crawling inside.

Within, they both caught their breath at the sight. The two foxes were still asleep, the elder curled protectively around his younger self. The smaller was coiled into a ball in the curve of the thirteen-year-old's stomach. All four of their tails were looped around their socked feet, creating a complicated, whirling pattern on the carpet. The younger whimpered slightly and the older reacted immediately, placing his arm gently around the four-year-old, cutting off his whines.

The two hedgehogs shared a look again, this time unspoken _pride_ crossing between them. Slowly, they backed out of the tent, each reveling in the fact that their little brother was such an amazing child. The one person who relied on them for everything; who was the closest to their hearts; who had them wrapped around his finger; who was the smartest individual they had ever met; who they had raised.

"We all need a little trauma." Twenty-year-old Sonic said once they were out of the room, nodding toward the sea, where the remnants of the storm could be seen in the waves.

He didn't need to elaborate. His younger self knew exactly what he meant.

_Trauma makes the soul stronger._

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><p>*I know this isn't the official story behind the echidnas or Chaos. This is merely a Mobian myth, nothing more.<p>

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><p><em>Reviews are cherished. <em>


	30. I Can't Live Without My Passion

__.

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"_I can't live without my passion."_

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><p><strong>Notes<strong>: Let me tell you; this chapter was a hassle. I wrote out half of it, then decided I was going to _reread this whole story_ – took me two days because I get distracted easily – and I discovered that my characterization of Classic Sonic has changed dramatically from the first chapter. I woed over this for about a day before I eventually sucked it up and opened this Word document back up. After reading it over, I realized that I had dug myself into a hole anyway, so I changed a few things. I've still got reservations about this chapter – Classic Sonic's still probably OOC – but there's nothing I can do about that except bite my tongue and hope you all pardon me.

This chapter's connected to the last one. This just writes off where the Tailses are, nothing more.

OH! OH! 200 REVIEWS! PARTY TIME!

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><p>Sonic was running.<p>

The act in and of itself wasn't strange. In fact, it was so undeniably _ordinary_ that it seemed almost mind-numbingly _boring_ to everyone _but_ the hedgehog. He ran every day, without fail, for a variety of reasons. He ran to keep himself limber. He ran to work off steam. He ran to fight Eggman. He ran to race Tails. But, most importantly, he ran for _himself._

Sonic _loved_ running. He adored the way the wind felt as it ripped through his quills, and was exhilarated every time he felt the sound barrier flex and splinter around him. He cherished the way running made him feel _unstoppable_. While he was speeding around, nothing could touch him – not even physics. Newton's laws tugged on him, trying to add drag to his aerodynamic body, trying to slow him down and yank him down by the ankles. He simply laughed at the feeble attempts, pushing his body even faster, harder, shoving physics out the window.

He ran on his _own_ brand of laws, ones he wrote _himself_.

So, yes, Sonic loved to run, but, even more than that, he enjoyed the _chase_. He looked everywhere for something to race, something to _pursue_, something to _run from_, and usually the universe only granted him on option.

_Eggman._

The doc was the only one who could keep up, despite his large body mass, was the only one who presented a _challenge_. Sonic cherished the adventure Eggman offered, relished in the confrontation and dared to fight back, declaring to the world that he was someone to rely on, and – more than that – was someone who _could_.

Plus, it was difficult and it was _fun_.

To say that he was a masochist would be a little harsh, but also slightly accurate. He loved danger, waiting for it to crop up with baited breath. In all twenty years of his life, he never got a higher adrenaline rush than when he was running for his life. It made him feel _alive_.

So, when he swung himself out of the cockpit of the _Tornado_, landing with grace and poise and without the slightest flinch, and saw all of the Egg Fighters and Spinners and badniks storming Emerald Hill Zone, he couldn't keep the smile off his face. Already, his heart was pumping, his feet itching to _go_, to _run_, to be the hero.

Sonic the Hedgehog did not like violence, at least, in principle. He spoke against it, and felt that it wasn't necessary, but even he had to admit to himself as he took off from a dead stop, leaving his younger self in the dust, that without it…

He would be very, _very_ bored.

A blue bombshell slammed into the first Egg Fighter, barreling right through like a hot knife through butter. The robot froze, AI trying to comprehend why it couldn't process where its feet were – or even if it _had_ feet – before it slumped and fell, sparking. Sonic grinned, arms and legs already streaked with grease and oil, and saluted it lazily with two fingers before turning sharply on his heel and darting toward his next target.

His younger self followed grudgingly, taking his sweet time to spindash into a 'bot his older self had missed. To the ten-year-old, this wasn't fun; it was a chore, something that had to be done. He didn't get the exhilaration, the excitement of the battle. He was filled with dread and exasperation and longing to get away, to escape, from the obligation of fighting Robotnik. He didn't _dislike_ laying his life on the line for people he didn't know, but still felt like it was a chore. He was the only one who _could_, so he _had_ to; he _chose_ to, felt the _drive_ to, but didn't _want_ to.

With a grumbling sigh, he bounced off a motobug, using his leftover momentum to slam into a buzz bomber. Both robots cracked open with small pops, metal casings raining down. Sonic shook his head, wincing as a spark shot from the exposed AI of the motobug. He kicked it away from the dry, browning grass, sending it skittering onto the beach a few feet away. It landed in the water with a small splash, and Sonic shook his head before continuing forward.

Up ahead, his older self was whooping with excitement as he boosted through a loop, knocking crabmeats away. His heart was pumping, thick in his throat, ears, and chest. The vital organ gave him a rhythm to base his movements on, allowed him to choreograph a dance of leaps and bounds and cascading robot parts.

He slammed into a group of four badniks – two motobugs, a crabmeat, and an Egg Fighter – and smashed his foot into the three closest to the ground, leaving the Fighter for his younger self.

The ten-year-old was lagging behind, taking his time to make sure everything was safe before he continued forward. He was very meticulous and methodical, something almost foreign to the older hedgehog in front of him.

Usually, he wasn't like this. The younger hedgehog was typically gung-ho for any type of action, ready to kick robot metal and get some exercise, but his surroundings – Emerald Hill, the place where he met Tails, but also where his best friend had been tormented for half of his young life – were making him antsy and irritable. The Zone itself was nice, much like his home of Green Hill, plenty of loops, nice scenic waterfront, but the locals were harsh, uncaring for anyone other than themselves. This coupled with the fact that it was more water than land at some parts put it on Sonic's 'places-I-never-want-to-visit-again-unless-I-have-to' list.

He grumbled as he spun into the Egg Fighter his elder self had left behind, wishing for the first time that he would _slow_ down and take the time to get rid of every robot. Then, realizing that he was essentially asking himself to do something that was equivalent to not breathing, he shook his head and sped up to a jog to keep up with the darker blue hedgehog.

Ahead of him, the elder hedgehog was rushing across the rooftops of some residential housing, taking sharp turns around chimneys and jumping across the gaps between the buildings. His footing was sure, and he never glanced down, taking out the multitude of Spinners hanging above the houses, probably equipped to set them on fire at some unseen signal. Mini-Sonic stayed on the ground, pulling even with his older self on the lower level. Together, they dashed through the suburban area, liberating it of its robotic tormentors.

"C'mon, Little-Me!" Macro-Sonic yelled as he used three Spinners to get across a large break between two buildings. "Smile a little! This is fun!" So saying, he fell into a roll before launching himself off a building and doing some over-the-top, totally-unnecessary flips and somersaults, whooping the whole time. He landed on his feet, grin a mile wide, and grabbed a nearby lightning rod to swing himself around a corner. He blasted off faster still, watching carefully for loose shingles or anything else that could send him careening to the ground.

His younger self shook his head, speeding up accordingly, and taking the corner with a lot less flare, simply planting his left foot and pivoting his other leg around. He landed in stride, and managed to pull ahead of the darker blue hedgehog in the resulting momentum change. He couldn't help but grin at the shocked face of his elder incarnation, taking the time to look back at him and stick his tongue out.

However, before he could turn back around, he slammed right into an Egg Fighter with a loud _bang_, sending himself careening to a halt. His body bounced off the robot, falling backward as physics finally caught up to him and pushed back. He landed with an '_oof_' on his back, quills digging into the dirt and vision spinning.

He tried to force himself back to his feet milliseconds later, knowing better than to stay in a vulnerable position with robots so close, but his body wouldn't listen. With a groan, he curled into himself, minimizing his surface area and protecting his soft belly and face. His quills dislodged from the dirt, flaring dangerously as he rolled onto his side.

The Egg Fighter was calculating, trying to decide if this little blue form was Priority One Hedgehog. It was too small, the fur too light of a blue, but the shoes matched… and it was spiky…

The process was cut off as a different ball of blue, this one the correct shade of azure and the exact size and shape of what it had been expecting slammed a sneakered foot right into its head, sending it crumpling to the ground. He bounced off of its head, kicking his legs out it a dramatic pose, before homing attacking into the other two 'bots who had been accompanying it, putting them out of commission with a well placed kick and airboost.

Landing with barely a sound as the 'bots exploded behind him, lighting up the scenery, the twenty-year-old bent down and helped his younger self to his feet. The smaller hedgehog grumbled, rubbing his skull and blinking owlishly toward the other Mobian.

"How is this fun?" He demanded seconds later, expression morphing from confused to angry in a matter of seconds. "Nearly getting brained by a hunk of metal, risking my neck for people I don't know, leaving Tails alone with no idea if I'm gonna see him again…"

The darker blue hedgehog yanked the younger one to a standing position with more force than was necessary, sending him stumbling. "Running, 'bot smashing, destroying Eggman's toys, what's not fun about that?"

The pint-sized time traveler didn't reply, simply looking up at his older self. The taller hedgehog was grinning at him, eyes twinkling with a hidden light, thick with excitement. _This_ was what he loved doing, he realized. _He_ loved running around, jeopardizing his life, and just _having_ _fun_. Sometime in the ten years between the younger and the elder, his opinion on things had completely flipped. He _enjoyed_ the adventure in the future, _cherished_ the challenge. It was out of his grasp now, but it made sense to his older self.

Which sent his mind spinning. _How_ could they be the _same person_, the same yet so _completely different_? There was no way; no feasible explanation as to why he had changed to drastically. Sure, growing up came with some emotional change, but not full 180's…

But, _wait_… He thought to himself as he watched his older self rub a finger under his nose, green eyes staring off into the distance. The younger's mind was spinning, shuffling through his thoughts in milliseconds, each reflection passing through his brain almost too quickly for him to grasp. _There wasn't much difference_… Between himself and the other hedgehog standing next to him.

They both hated waking up, hated water, and loved chili dogs. They both were best friends with a fox cub; both loved running; both loved _life_.

How many times had Mini-Sonic walked through a Zone, admiring the scenery, simply because he _could_? How many times had he smiled at a sunrise, valued the stars in the sky? He had caught the older doing it multiple times; lying in a tree, staring at clouds, allowing the wind to ruffle his quills, humming to himself. He had seen the twenty-year-old doing just that, down to the swinging leg and half-mast eyes.

Now that he thought about, he had _no idea_ what his older self had _really_ gone through. Sure, he had gotten a taste of it through their time-traveling adventure, but he honestly couldn't comprehend how he could have possibly felt when Station Square got flooded, when he met Shadow for the first time, when he first got sucked into a book… He was detached from the events, unable to form opinions.

So, there was no way for him to really judge how he would grown up. For all he knew, his evolution of view – dangerous adventure becoming fun adventure – may have just been a way for him to see things in a positive way. These were the cards Life had dealt him; he was just trying to play them in the best way.

Macro-Sonic waved his hand in front of the dark eyes of his younger persona, yanking him out of his musings. "Paging Sonic… Sonic, come in Sonic." He quipped, grin permanently wedged between his cheeks. When he saw the daggers his younger self was sending him, his smile widened. "Have a nice trip?"

The other rolled his eyes. "Just thinking."

"Couldn't tell. You looked like you were trying to burn a hole in the ground. Whatever did Mobius do to you?"

Another eye roll. "Yeah yeah. Let's get going already."

The elder didn't need prodding, and he spun on his heel, darting away from a standstill. The smaller hedgehog watched him go, eyes narrowing at the smooth movements.

Somehow, it always came back to running… He mused to himself, taking off after the darker blue Mobian. His whole life changed because he could run. If he wasn't able to run at the speed of sound, he never would have taken on Robotnik; never tried to save Mobius.

But, more than that, running became a part of him. Running was _Sonic_; Sonic _was_ running. He couldn't exist without it. His whole identity revolved around it. It was his exercise, his relaxation, his _way _of _life._

His obsession.

And, simply stating, one cannot survive without a fascination; something to occupy their time with, to think about it.

"I can't live without my passion…" He mumbled to himself, speeding up so he could pull even with his elder self. "Because, without a passion, I'm _not_ myself."

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><p><em>Bleg. I don't like it. I never really liked the prompt anyway, so whatever. Not the best chapter in the whole world. <em>

_Officially over the 100,000 word mark! Whoo!_

_Reviews are cherished. _


	31. Now is the Time to be Strong

_._

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Now is the time to be strong."

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> This is late, mainly because I tried to write the next chapter of _Unstoppable Inferno, Uncontrollable Flood_, but then I got distracted (and I started stalling because I was working on a sword fight) by some original non-fanfiction stuff I wanted to work on (one such thing posted on deviantART, selfless plug), _and_ then I got caught back up in the _Leviathan _fandom again (favorite book series right now, by Scott Westerfeld) and I started reading fanfics for that… Eventually, I realized that I hadn't updated this story in a while…

Then, I got writer's block. Whoo. Still, this chapter came out better than expected, though I suppose someone, somewhere, will find a problem with the reactions of the characters and such, but whatever. I really need to practice writing Sonic. These past few weeks of not working on his personality has seriously killed his characterization…

Anywhoo, I'm rambling now. This chapter is the beginning of the turning point, ladies and gents! (What, this story has _plot_?) Going downhill now! Also, I didn't read this over or edit it in any way, because I'm barely awake as it is. Feel free to go all Grammar Nazi on me.

I apologize to all of my watchers for the multiple emails you got for this chapter. It wouldn't show up no matter how hard I tried... Damn fanfiction.

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><p>Nighttime. Darkness. Sleep.<p>

Three words that fit seamlessly together, without fail. They are almost synonymous with each other. Night is characterized by being dark. Sleep happens easily in the dark and therefore at night. The world is calm. Darkness encourages silent movements, the need to sneak up on something and take it by surprise. Daytime, on the other hand, heartens brash actions, quick thinking, and split second decisions.

Sonic the Hedgehog was a creature of the light. Miles Prower was a child raised in the daylight, and therefore wary of night. They both functioned in the daytime, like most other diurnal creatures, and were almost completely worthless in the dark. Of course, Sonic's dark blue fur lent to camouflage in the gloom, but his bright green eyes were easily seen, even in the lowest of lights. They glinted when they caught the light, like sparks of emerald, and gave him away. Tails, on the other hand, had fur that stood out in the dark. It was gold, almost gleaming, and it filtered light in a way that made him seem angelic. When he was young, this helped the innocent image that drew Sonic to him in the first place, but now that he was older and needed to be stealthy on missions, it was a hindrance more than a blessing. Pair that with two pools of blue that shimmered like the ocean for eyes, and he was one of the most conspicuous individuals in the dark.

On the flip side, the younger incarnation of Sonic had dark eyes, but light colored fur. The transformation from child to adult seemed to have switched his pigmentation, taking the darkness from his eyes and adding it to his fur. Of course, genetics didn't work like this, so it was assumed that the changing fur color had to do with proper nutrition, not so much some mythical occurrence that changed him physically. When he was ten, he didn't have a steady home or a good food source. He scrounged for food, always making sure Tails was fed before himself, further limiting the amount of nutrition he got. Once they moved into the workshop, neither he nor Tails was running constantly, wondering when their next meal would be.

The subject of darkness was different then too. He welcomed the dark, because it allowed him to see the true nature of others. His eyes were hard chips of obsidian, calculating and almost-judgmental. He looked at everything critically, including things in the dark. Of course, he was always wary when the sun dipped below the horizon, but he also heaved a sigh of relief. No one could judge him in the dark – not the same way he judged them – because they couldn't see who he truly was.

Tails, on the other hand, didn't change that dramatically. He was still of the same opinion of the dark. Almost neutral on the subject, he just accepted that it was a constant of life. Every day the sun would set and every day it would rise again.

The transformation from child to adult for Sonic was more striking than the change from toddler to teenager for the fox, simply because the hedgehog was constantly being analyzed by the general public. Reporters, the human government, and even the everyday people and Mobians watched him with hawk-like eyes, critical of everything he did. Usually, this didn't bother the hero, because he honestly didn't care what others thought of him, but he still felt a little antsy when a microphone was shoved into his face. Mobians were an experiment for the humans, he had realized a long time ago, and one screw up by someone as influential as him would no doubt cause a fracture in the precariously balanced peace.

In the same light, he was uncomfortable with the pedestal the Mobians put him on. Sure, he was a hero and he saved their lives, but that didn't mean that he wanted to be raised higher than everyone else.

Never mind the fact that even when he was on that plinth, they were still judging him; all the easier to see him, because he was lifted higher.

Which brought him to an issue that was getting hotter and hotter. He had noticed that when the media found something that interested the public, it latched onto it and shook it for all it was worth. Lately, it had been his younger self, not exactly surprising, considering there were two of him running around. But, more than just there being one of him, they suddenly became more aware of his changes, growing up and otherwise. Recently, they had latched onto his eye color, and they were hounding him to answer how and why it changed. Eyes don't just change color. There was something up.

It always came back to his eyes. Not surprising, because Mobian society practically worshiped the eyes. They were the most important organ, because they allowed one to perceive the outside world but also permitted someone else to look into your soul and see who you were. If your eyes morphed in the way Sonic's had, there was some underlying issue, something that affected him deeply in the soul and changed his genetic code.

Because of this, Sonic had started avoiding the darkness at all costs. It threw his eyes into sharp focus, because they were noticeable, almost god-like in brightness. When the sun looked like it was getting ready to set, he ducked away, into the artificial light of the buildings. He wasn't exactly _frightened_ of the dark, but he didn't like it.

Which brings us to our current moment in time. Or out of time, depending on which generation you consider yourself. This is the genesis of the headlines, the beginning of the unbalanced world where two of the same people occupy the same space and the planet tips, finally outweighed with the extra presences not meant to exist. The timeline has finally, completely spun around itself, and now it has employed another anomaly to try to fix itself.

Let us begin…

The moment when everything changes is always small, almost insignificant in the scheme of things. This one begins with the sun setting. An everyday occurrence, yes, but it is pivotal on this day. The darkness settles quickly over the Mystic Ruins, allowing the shadowy shape – all sharp curves and well-oiled junctures, easy access to the plateau that the workshop is situated on. The security system is switched off, despite the fact that the fox living in the building had checked it twice before retiring to bed.

The reasoning behind the security melt-down, or rather, _negligence_, is the sapphire dart snaking its way around the ancient ruins and cliffs of the Mystic Ruins. Seconds after the bedroom door had clicked shut behind the fox, the twenty-year-old hedgehog had zipped out the door for a quick run, making sure to shut off the security measures as he left. His younger counterpart and the four-year-old incarnation of Tails were both asleep as well, in their shared bedroom, and therefore didn't notice when he departed.

The dark figure easily made its way to the house, slipping inside through the barely-open door. It resembled the one running through the ruins, not exactly, but close enough that you could convince yourself that you were seeing Sonic without too much thought. Its eyes were circles of red dots, meant to closely resemble irises and pupils, and they were the only things visible in the complete darkness that clutched the house and its occupants.

It eased its way through the foyer, and scaled the stairs almost as if it were floating. Undeterred and unchallenged, it made its way all the way to the first bedroom, the one the thirteen-year-old fox had just retired to minutes before, and grabbed the knob. It made to turn it, its silver hand swiveling in its socket, but the knob jerked unexpectantly, the door flinging open to reveal the previously assumed-to-be-sleeping Tails. He stared at the thing standing before him for approximately one point three seconds, just long enough for his mind to take a complete picture of the threat, before he whipped around, his tails flaring out and plowing into the menace. The impact was what was to be expected when two solid chucks of muscle, propelled by what could only be assumed to be two equally able legs plus an understanding of centripetal force, came into contact with a distinctly more fragile (perspective wise) metal skeleton. The robot was slammed to the side, jerking downward as its legs gave out when the weak knee-joints took the force of the attack.

Tails wasted no time jumping over the 'bot and making a mad dash for the guest bedroom, already screaming warnings. When he got to the door seconds later, Mini-Sonic was already standing there, one hand restraining the eternally curious fox kit struggling to see what the fuss was behind him. The elder vulpine darted into the room, and the tiny hedgehog wasted no time slamming the door behind him.

The blue-eyed Mobian threw himself across the room, almost tripping in his haste to get to the closet door. He grabbed the knob and turned-and-pulled to get it open and fell to the ground, gloved fingers grabbing at the edges of the thin carpeting. Eventually, his digits freed a corner of the soft fabric, and he yanked it away. His pupils were huge, the cerulean of his irises almost completely absent as his night vision allowed him to see things the hedgehog standing over his shoulder couldn't. Next to the small blue Mobian, the younger fox was much the same as his elder counterpart, though one couldn't tell because of the dark color of his whole eye.

Macro Tails easily yanked a small dome of plastic upward and then leaned heavily on the large, red button underneath. Almost immediately, a thick metal sheet slid down from a hidden compartment above the main door, and sealed the room from the hall. The process was completed with all of the windows and the room was plummeted into complete darkness as the moonlight was blocked.

Sonic panicked for half of a second before a flashlight flared to life in front of him. The elder fox grimaced at him, turning the light away from their faces and crossed the room to sit under the window. In the hall, he could hear the sounds of the robot trying to stand and he gave it fifteen seconds to make it to the door.

The hedgehog huffed to himself and turned around to pull his little brother closer to him. The small four-year-old was shaking, but didn't have any other outward signs of his fright, and Sonic smiled down at him, encouraging his bravery. The small child grinned back, a little more subdued. Sonic sighed before dragging his charge toward the window and sitting down next to the elder fox. Easily, he pulled the smaller canine into his lap.

"What is it?" The speedster asked after a time, following the beam of the flashlight with his eyes. It snaked upwards, making a pool of light on the ceiling.

The elder fox shook his head. "I'm not sure. Some type of Sonic robot. I've never seen it before."

For some reason, that set off alarm bells in the light blue hedgehog's brain. "What did it look like, exactly?"

Tails tapped the flashlight, wincing as the robot finally reached the door and started pounding at the wood. It had no idea there was another layer to the threshold – this one metal – waiting for it. "About the same size as you, red eyes, same style of shoes…" He trailed off, pulling up the vague picture he had forced his memory to retain. "Gray."

The hedgehog groaned in response, banging his head back on the wall. "Silver Sonic, of course." He winced as the sound of splintering wood filtered into the room as the robot on the other side ripped the wooden obstruction from its hinges.

"Silver Sonic?" Both of the foxes inquired, tilting their heads to the side simultaneously.

The ten-year-old recoiled again as a large, round dent appeared in the metal keeping them safe. "Robotnik built a robot to fight me on the Death Egg." He nodded toward the door, sighing as the robot continued to pound on it. He eased his young charge off of his lap and stood, placing himself between the foxes and the door. "Silver Sonic. I thought it exploded."

"You mean to tell me…" Macro-Tails asked, coming to stand beside Sonic. The hedgehog glared at him and tried to get in front of him again. "That Metal Sonic wasn't the first 'bot Eggman made that looked like you?"

The blue one shook his head, staring at the steadily weakening door. "Silver Sonic was remote controlled, but it could keep up with me. Nearly killed me. Only reason I managed to beat it was because Robotnik mentioned shooting you down with the _Tornado_ and…" He grimaced. "Misplaced aggression."

Tails _ticked_ under his breath while his younger counterpart pushed his way past Sonic so he could look up at the hedgehog. The ten-year-old twitched as the door creaked and pulled the little fox back. "What I want to know," the four-year-old kit said, face sour as he was unceremoniously picked up and dumped into the relative safety behind his big brother, "is _how_ it got into the Workshop."

The elder fox looked puzzled as well. "I turned on the security system before I came up here, and everyone was in the house, though Sonic was…" He trailed off as something occurred to him. "_Sonic_." He groaned, obviously meaning the twenty-year-old hedgehog. "He must've left and turned off the security… That explains why that _thing_," he nodded toward the warped and bent piece of metal, precariously holding back the robot. It wouldn't be much longer now until it broke through all the way, "isn't scrap yet. Sonic's got no idea we're under attack!"

The little hedgehog opened his mouth to reply, but, before he could, the door completely collapsed, the robot who had been previously fighting with the piece of metal standing fully in the threshold, red eyes calculating and categorizing the situation.

_Priority One Hedgehog sighted. Two Kitsu-_

The 'bot's scheming was cut off as a solid mass of blue quills and sinewy muscle slammed into it, knocking it back with a firm kick. Sonic was sent flying into the air and he flipped once before landing smoothly on his feet. Once he was sure that he was firmly on the ground, he darted forward again, falling into a roll and spindashing straight into the still-stumbling Silver Sonic. He sent the robot up into the air and it flew straight into the opposite wall, somehow landing with its razor-sharp quills lodge in the drywall. It slumped, eyes darkening.

"That was easy…" Sonic muttered as he walked up to the dead robot and kicked at its hanging feet, flinching backward as the action made the body crumple forward a little.

"Almost _too_ easy…" The bigger of the foxes shared his sentiment as he inched forward, making sure to command his younger self to stay back before hand. He gave the robot a once over, taking note of the faint glow coming from its eyes. "You said that it was remote controlled?"

"Yeah," the hedgehog replied, shadowing the fox like an over-protective big brother, "though, I don't see _how_ it can be. Robotnik can't see what it's doing…"

"Yes, he can!" Four-year-old Tails scurried forward without fear, twisting his tails so he could be level with the 'bot's eyes. He hovered inches from the shiny metal, dark eyes calculating, and he reached out with one bold finger, tapping the robotic hedgehog between the eyes. "He sees through these! The occipital capacitors shouldn't be able to stay lit if the core is dead." He explained quickly, almost too quickly for Sonic to understand, though the elder fox seemed to be doing perfectly at comprehending his younger self's words. "These must be cameras!"

The last syllable of the fox's declaration was cut off as the robot suddenly came to life. It moved just swiftly enough that Sonic didn't have time to react, and before any of them could blink, it had the small fox by the neck, its jointed fingers squeezing just tight enough to force a choking sound from the child.

"_Tails_!" Sonic gasped, taking half of a step forward. But, before he could move past that, the metallic menace tightened its fist a tad, forcing the fox to gasp.

"S-Sonic!" He wheezed, kicking his legs uselessly and grabbing the thing restricting his airway with feeble fingers. The hedgehog fell backward, away from his friend, and almost collapsed in relief as the robot eased his fingers apart enough for the fox to pull in air. His chest heaved and Sonic let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding.

"Not so fast, Sonic!" A deep, familiar voice reverberated from the robot's hinged mouth. "Take one more step and your little friend's brain will be escaping through his ears!"

"_Robotnik_!" The hedgehog hissed, not daring to move. He shot a look at the older Tails, and he was frozen as well, staring at his younger self keenly, his eyes a stormy blue color. "Let him go!"

"Oh, I would _love_ to, Sonic!" The human crowed, not a hint of remorse in his voice. "But, I'm afraid I need him for something." He broke off in a cackle, and the robot dislodged itself from the wall. "Come get him tomorrow at noon in Hill Top Zone. If you don't show up… well, I hate to be cliché, but you'll never see him again!"

With that, Silver Sonic's shoes lit up as hidden rocket boosters activated, and it pulled its captive fully into its arms before blasting away through the ceiling, leaving a huge hole. Mini-Tails screamed as his airway was freed, but they couldn't understand what he was saying. His voice faded after a few seconds.

Sonic collapsed backward, his quills hitting the wall as he slid down to the ground, hands gripping the light blue fur on his head. He was gasping, dry sobs wracking his body. The elder fox stood in shock, unable to move beyond falling to the ground as well. He sat with his legs straight out, tails curled limply around his body. His eyes stared blankly up at the hole, his mind calculating.

Fifteen minutes later, the dark blue, twenty-year-old form of the present day Sonic stumbled up the stairs and found them.

o0o

Approximately twenty-five minutes before the world fell apart, the older incarnate of the hedgehog was blasting across a continent, moving almost too fast for the naked eye to track. He had no idea where he was going, just simply running, and eventually his feet took him to Westopolis, where he decided to drop in on Shadow. The self-proclaimed Ultimate Lifeform was lounging against his tree when Sonic darted up, and he lazily opened one eye before scowling his patented 'emo scowl' and using his yellow Chaos Emerald to teleport himself away.

Grumbling about jerks, Sonic had turned on his heel and dashed in a random direction. Ultimately, he ended up in Shamar, and he decided to run a little reconnaissance. There had been rumors of a mysterious factory of some type (no one was sure what it was for exactly) hidden deep in the heart of the desert; nothing too serious yet, but G.U.N. was getting a little suspicious, so he figured he should ease a few minds.

Five minutes later, he had dug a furrow in the sand through most of the large expanse of dunes, and his search came up fruitless. With a sigh, he had gone back into the city, where he eventually ran into Wentos. After a buying a chili dog from the human traveling-salesman, he had decided that his nighttime excursion was getting a little long, so he turned back toward Mystic Ruins.

A few minutes later, he staggered into the house, making sure to activate the security system behind him; Tails would kill him if he forgot. He padded through the kitchen, his ears at high alert and twitching. Something was off; the house was deathly still. Sure, it was around midnight, but there were three very hyperactive individuals hidden somewhere inside. Usually, one of them was awake no matter the time of the night – getting a glass of water, using the restroom, tinkering in the workshop because he couldn't sleep… The fact that there was no movement, not even a breeze from the open window in the living room, alerted the hedgehog to the tense atmosphere.

He took the stairs two at a time, a sense of foreboding coalescing into a ball in his stomach with every step, and he nearly fell over when he reached the top and caught sight of the destruction awaiting him. The door to the guest bedroom was ripped off of its hinges, lying on the ground a few feet from the steps, and a huge, gaping hole in the ceiling allowed him to see the twinkling stars in the sky. But, none of that compared to the utter devastation hanging around the two individuals sitting on the carpet, staring up at the hole with open faces of disbelief and crushed will.

Sonic inched his way toward the pair, taking note of the way his younger self was leaning against the wall with his legs bent and his head resting on the hard angle of his kneecaps, his arms wrapped around the thin, blue limbs. His body was quaking, a soft, almost-mewling sound escaping from the ball he was curled into. The elder hedgehog decided to leave him be for a minute, and he dropped to his knees beside the fox instead.

Tails was staring at the hole with large, unseeing eyes. The blue of his irises was almost washed out, he was so deep in thought. His hands were fisted at his sides, his tails lying limp and almost dead looking, and his fur was standing on end. Sonic carefully laid a hand on his golden shoulder, and didn't react when the fox jumped. Tails twisted around, eyes wild and a snarl ripping out of his throat. However, before he could lunge at Sonic, the hedgehog had both of his shoulders clasped in his hands and his arms were completely extended, holding him back. Tails gasped as he came back to himself, wilting into the blue one's hands.

"Sonic…" He breathed, collapsing forward into the hedgehog's lap. He buried his head into Sonic's chest, his whole body shaking, and Sonic realized that the fox was crying, uncontrollable sobs that wracked his whole body and left him gasping for breath. "_He took him Sonic!_" He panted, voice muffled by the peach fur on the speedster's stomach. "_It got into the house and _took him!"

Sonic wrapped his hands around his little brother, rocking back and forth and making small shushing sounds under his breath. "Shh, Tails, shh… It'll be okay, I promise." He had no idea what he was swearing to do, but if it calmed Tails down, he was willing to do anything. The promise had the desired effect, and Tails leaned backward, staring up at his friend with huge, shining eyes. His face was tear stained, his fur a whole shade darker where the tears had rolled down, and he sniffled a little before nodding once, assured. "Why don't you tell me what exactly happened?" Sonic asked once he had calmed down, rubbing his gloved thumbs under his charge's eyes to get rid of the tears still hanging there.

As Tails recounted the story, the ball of dread in Sonic's belly grew and his heart tried to join it as it grew heavier in his chest. He glanced sideways toward his younger incarnation, realizing now why he was still curled into himself.

"… and it escaped through the _roof_, Sonic! The roof!" Tails was practically yelling, waving his arms around like he was directing a symphony. "The roof is built to withstand a missile attack! How did the _robot_ go _through_ it? !"

"I don't know Tails." The hedgehog answered, only half listening. Now that his thirteen-year-old charge seemed in control of himself, he carefully pushed him off of his lap and onto the floor. Tails didn't look happy about that, but he didn't say anything when he noticed that the older hedgehog was inching toward his younger self.

He sidled up next to the light blue form, reaching out a hand to repeat the performance he had given with Tails, but before he could touch him, Mini-Sonic had whipped his head around. He glared at the older hedgehog with red rimed, dark eyes, his expression _daring_ him to touch him. The elder pulled his hand back slowly, not wanting to instigate the obviously unstable ten-year-old. "Hey," he called softly when the younger hedgehog placed his head back onto his knees, "we'll get him back."

Mini-Sonic stiffened and he mumbled something too low for the other to hear. The older hedgehog took this as encouragement and he gently prodded at him to continue.

"What?"

"I said, 'I failed!' okay?" Suddenly, the smaller blue Mobian's temper flared and he jerked his head up, glaring straight at his older self. "I promised him – _promised_ him – that I would look after him! That was the first thing I _ever_ swore to him! And, I failed! He's gone! Robotnik kidnapped him!" He slammed his head into the wall behind him with as much as force as he could muster, but his quills cushioned the blow, saving him from a concussion. He closed his eyes when pain didn't flare across his skull and let out a deep breath, his rage disappearing just as quickly as it had shown up. "What do I do now?" He practically whimpered, opening hopeless eyes and turning them to his older self.

"Now," the other hedgehog answered, placing his hand on the shoulder of his younger self, "is the time to be strong. Tails needs you more in this moment that he ever has. You need to _think_ and figure it out." The small Mobian looked up at him, eyes hooded and stormy and he bit his lip, lost deep in thought. The thirteen-year-old fox scooted forward so he was sitting in front of the tiny hedgehog and he looked at him with an expression that spoke of extreme trust and respect. Little Sonic stared at him, and his resolve strengthened at the sight. He nodded once, standing.

"I'm gonna go clear my head."

He was gone seconds later, the door slamming shut downstairs.

Both of the older Mobians stared after him for a few minutes before Tails moved closer to his friend and leaned into his side, laying his head on Sonic's tan arm. "I'm scared." He said bluntly, his voice rumbling low in his throat. "What if we don't save him – me?" He corrected himself without thinking.

Sonic looked down at his golden head, and a small smile appeared on his face. "Then you wouldn't be here right now."

Tails sat back up, looking at Sonic with a mixed expression – puzzled and critical. "And they call me the smart one…" He mumbled, shaking his head.

"You _are_ smart, just in a different way, little bro'." Sonic answered without pause. He stood slowly when Tails didn't answer, and he hauled the fox to his feet. "C'mon, let's get this hole patched and try to get some sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Tails hummed in response, stifling the yawn that tried to surface at the mention of rest. Together, they went down to the workshop to grab some wood to use for a temporary fix and it was as they were coming back up the stairs that Tails spoke again.

"This is the moment when everything changes, isn't it?" He asked softly. When Sonic looked at him quizzically, he reached up with a gloved hand and pointed at his blue eyes. "I don't remember exactly what made them change." He mumbled. "Just that it was scary."

Sonic shook his head, his expression shutting down. "I'm not sure." He responded, heaving his piece of wood onto his shoulder. "But, I really hope it's not. All I remember is pain… and death."

* * *

><p><em>To be continued…<em>

_Reviews are cherished.  
><em>


	32. Heresy is Just Another Word

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"_Heresy is just another word for freedom of thought."_

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Life caught up with me. Plus, this chapter is a monster. I will make no excuses, but, I extend a large thank you to those who PM'd me and inquired after the status of this chapter. Anyway, enjoy.

**Warning**: Intense sciency magical theory stuff ahead. Please take note that a lot of this chapter is my opinion and developed concepts, so please do not steal them. If you want to use anything in this story, just ask me. Also, it's three o'clock in the morning and I want to get this posted. There will probably be typos. I'll proof it later, promise.

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><p>The next day dawned too quickly and too early for the three remaining occupants of the Workshop. After a busy midnight hour filled with communications to Angel Island, attempts to track down Shadow and his Chaos Emerald, and one very long, mind clearing run for a ten-year-old older brother, all three stumbled to bed mentally and physically exhausted. Knuckles had been tracked down easily enough, and he was due to arrive – after passing over Hill Top Zone with Angel Island and doing a little reconnaissance – sometime the next morning, while Shadow was still in the wind. Sonic had suspicions about where he was, considering the time of year, but he wasn't willing to reveal anything until he was one hundred percent sure.<p>

So, when the proximity alarm started ringing through the house, alerting the trio of Angel Island's descent just outside of the Mystic Ruins, it took a while and a bit of arguing for one of them to get to the door and open it in time for Knuckles to storm in, his younger incarnation trailing only steps behind. Green eyes stared at them for half of a second before Marco-Sonic shook his head, his disheveled quills sinking low in exhaustion and his movements languid from lack of sleep. He waved his hand once, and Knuckles translated that to mean 'Go entertain yourself in the living room until I wake up,' before taking the stairs – with visible difficulty – back up to his bedroom. Once there, he collapsed back onto the mattress, curling protectively around Tails without realizing. The events the night before had rocked him to the core, despite his strong front, and he wasn't willing to let his little brother out of his sight. One missing Tails was enough for one lifetime.

"What was it?" Tails asked sleepily, blinking owlishly at the hedgehog.

"Knuckles." Sonic grunted, laying his head on his extended right arm. "Sleep now. Worry later."

Tails sighed his agreement, sinking back into dreamland almost immediately. Sonic watched him for two minutes before following his example, his stomach twisting unhappily at the thought of losing his little brother even for a night. He could only imagine what his younger self was going through.

In the guest bedroom, Little Sonic was laying on his back in the bed, one of his legs bent and his foot planted on the mattress. His arms were laced behind his head, on the pillows, and he was staring up at the ceiling with unseeing eyes. His mind was whirling, unable to allow him the quiet release of sleep. The room was too quiet, too still; he was used to the sound of Tails' breathing, of the fox whimpering or talking or moving in his sleep. The silence was unsettling, so much so that, even if his mind would calm down long enough for him to lull himself away from the awake world, he wouldn't have been able to slip into sleep. He blinked once, slowly, and turned over onto his side so he was facing the window, his back toward the ravaged doorway.

He was numb, the depression and anger having passed in the wee hours of the morning. Tails' missing presence was like a gaping hole, like his left hand was missing, and he couldn't ignore it no matter how hard he tried. Tails' scream as he was ripped away echoed constantly in his mind, almost overwhelming him at times, and he gritted his teeth, burying his head into his palms. Dry sobs wracked his body, shaking his shoulders and tearing at his barren eyes. Tears were beyond him now; they had all been expelled during his exhausting run that morning. He had circled the globe at least three times, blasting through Central City, Spagonia, Mobotropolis, Adabat, and even a debunk Eggmanland in the blink of an eye. Eventually, he decided that he had spent enough time running around and had returned to the Workshop, only to find the older incarnations of himself and Tails passed out in their bedroom. He had bit back an envious sneer at seeing his older self hugging his little brother to his chest and simply stalked to his own room.

He knew it was stupid to blame his older self for what had happened, and Tails was even less guilty, so he turned his frustration toward Eggman. His fury was growing uneasily under the numbness trying to take over. He could feel the anger winding itself up, like a key in a clock, and it was only a matter of time before it exploded out of him. He could only hope that Eggman was around when that happened.

His eyes snapped open, glowing almost-green in the dark, and he sat up, deciding that he had had enough moping and lying around. Face completely devoid of emotion, he fumbled under the bed for his shoes. When his searching fingers eventually closed around the footwear, he slipped them on, twitching his toes against the taught polymer. Then, he slid off of the bed and trudged to the door, running a hand through his disheveled quills. He marched his way down the stairs like a mindless solider and slithered into the living room and onto the couch silently.

Both of the echidnas were sitting on the floor, staring up at the television in front of them. Neither really got much TV watching time, but the looks on their faces were anything but delighted at the chance. They looked grim and the elder looked particularly disturbed, like whatever was on the screen was a personal insult directed specifically at him.

"-Top Zone has been completely overridden with robots. Local police are doing all that they can to fight off the menace, but they cannot handle the sheer mass of badniks. Everyone in the Zone is encouraged to evacuate in any way possible, though it is advised that they stay on the ground and avoid hovercraft travel. Dr. Eggman is nowhere to be seen, but G.U.N. and the local Mobian militias are preparing for the worst. More information will become available as the situation develops."

Suddenly, the shrill ring of the telephone exploded from the kitchen, sending both of the red Mobians jumping and making Mini-Sonic's ear twitch. Macro-Knuckles glanced back at him, one eyeridge raised, asking if he should go get the phone. The young hedgehog blew out a breath and was about to get up when the heavy sound of footsteps sounded from the direction of the stairs. The speedster glanced over the back of the couch and watched with a blank face as his older self grumbled his way to the kitchen, mumbling about unhooking the phone. Seconds later, the ringing cut off and a grunted greeting filtered into the room.

Mere seconds later, Tails practically fell into the room, depositing himself onto the couch with a heavy sigh. His large ears were at half-mast, his blue eyes wide and completely devoid of sleepiness, despite the obvious exhaustion hanging off of his frame. "Any news?" He inquired after a few beats of silence.

Knuckles pressed a button on the remote, and the picture on the television rewound itself to the beginning of the newscast. The fox watched it with an unreadable expression, his ears sinking lower and lower as it went on. His whole body wilted and, eventually, he commanded Knuckles to turn it off. The echidna hit the pause button and the room was plunged into silence, thick and tangible.

Until that is, a yell blasted out of the kitchen, followed by the stomping form of the elder Sonic. "Yes, I _understand _you _perfectly_, Mr. _President_." The honorary title was hissed, venom completely negating the politeness of the word, and Sonic stopped right next to the couch, quills and fur bristled. "But, we can't just jump up and go to Hill Top Zone-" He was cut off as the person on the other end barked something in response. Sonic's eyes narrowed and he growled audibly under his breath. "A lot of good we would do right now! We're all exhausted!" He stopped again as the other replied. "Look, I get it. It's a lot of 'bots, but G.U.N. should be able to hold them off for a while. We've got a crisis of our own here and-" He was interrupted once more and his hand tightened around the phone, cracking the casing.

Suddenly, Tails was off the couch and he had the phone pressed up to his own face. He grimaced as the yelling, human voice continued after the switch. "Mr. President," he mumbled lowly, "this is Tails. We need a few hours to get ourselves situated before –" He cut himself off as another command barked through the receiver. "Uh huh, crystal clear. Yes, we wouldn't want your industry to suffer because you lost a diamond mine…" He rolled his eyes toward his friends. "Right now, I need you to patch me through to the G.U.N. commander." A pause. "You can't do that? Why not?" Suddenly, his voice lost all trace of politeness. "What do you _mean_ 'civilian'? I'm no more of a civilian than you are, sir!"

The phone switched hands again, this time to the elder echidna. Knuckles' face was blank, except for the barest hit of a twitch in his left eyebrow, a sure sign that he was annoyed. "Listen human," he barked before the phone was completely up to his face, "this is the Angel Island Guardian." A sputtered '_Knuckles_?' came from the other end of line. "Yes, Knuckles. We don't have time to deal with your whining about the industry and factories you have in Hill Top Zone. Right now, there are Mobians in trouble and you need to get the humans out of the way. You hear me? I will _not_ have this planet's balance thrown because you feel the need to play meddler. Do I make myself clear?" A few more sputtered complaints and Knuckles nodded once to himself. "Perfect." Then, without preamble, he tossed the telephone over his shoulder. It went sailing into the wall and fell to the ground in pieces.

Silence fell again, this time with four separate pairs of eyes staring at the elder echidna. He scowled. "Don't you have a fox to save?"

That promptly brought the somber mood back and the elder of the two hedgehogs scowled and turned on his heel, mumbling about going to get coffee. The younger sunk back into the couch, his face set in a permanent state of impassiveness, while Tails curled up next to the armrest, tucking his socked feet underneath himself, wrapping his tails around his body, and pillowing his head on his folded arms. The echidnas watched the three of them before they turned back to the television as one.

The next few minutes passed in relative peace – except for the crashing sounds coming from the kitchen. Tails seemed to have drifted back into sleep, Knuckles was watching a human newscast, and scowling at the biased way the woman on the screen told the story, while his younger self was studying the newspaper intently. Eventually, Macro-Sonic strolled back into the room with a large mug of coffee clutched firmly between his hands. He already looked more awake, his eyes brighter and quills now defying gravity in the proper fashion. He quirked an eyeridge at the echidnas, but didn't say anything, and perched himself on the armchair set adjacent to the couch.

"Hm, Sonic." Tails sighed, apparently more awake then his appearance hinted at. "Is it only Hill Top?"

"What, lil'bro?" The older hedgehog questioned as he blew on his drink.

"Is Hill Top the only Zone affected? What about the rest of Westside Island?"

Sonic stared at the fox, unable to form a response. "Uh…"

Suddenly, what was being asked seemed to hit Knuckles, because he pounded his fist onto the remote, turning the channel back to the Mobian station. The man on the screen was recapping what had happened, but he seemed intently focused on Hill Top.

Tails' brow furrowed and he picked his head up, blinked three times, and stood. He stretched once before turning and trudging in the direction of the kitchen, presumably to head down to the Workshop and its large computer. "Sonic," he called, right as he crossed the threshold. Both of the hedgehogs looked up at him. "I think it's time you went and got that Emerald from its hiding spot."

Elder Sonic's face fell into a quizzical look while realization flashed across Mini-Sonic's expression for half of a second before he nodded once. He pushed himself to his feet and picked his way to the stairs. Once on the second floor, he disappeared into his bedroom.

The twenty-year-old watched him, confused, before turning to Knuckles, expression begging for an explanation.

"I gave Tails an Emerald when you were sick. He must've given it to the little you for safekeeping…" The younger of the echidnas answered, watching as Sonic's face morphed from bewilderment to understanding. "That means we have three Emeralds, plus the Master…"

"Shadow's got one." Sonic answered quickly, ears flicking. "But we can't find him. G.U.N.'s too busy to track him, and he knows how to avoid all of Tails' scopes."

The eleven-year-old Mobian worried his lip, glancing toward his older self. They shared a meaningful look and nodded toward each other once before answering together.

"Three will have to be enough."

o0o

Half an hour until noon; the sun beat down harshly on the lava enriched landscape of Hill Top. The Zone's green grass had been trampled many times over that day – by fleeing Mobians and the wheels and lower appendages of chasing badniks. The multiple volcanic hotspots were acting up as the Chaos Energies fueling them reacted violently to the frightened emotions of the Mobians of the Zone, further adding to the trouble plaguing the small settlement that day.

High above the Zone, a duo of small aircraft circled lazily around, once, twice, three times. The two planes were similar enough to be considered of the same series, but different enough to hint that they were privately owned. One blue and the other red, both were biplanes and both were piloted by Mobians. In the cockpit of the blue, a fox with double tails and high-tech aviator goggles flew the plane with obvious skill, easing on the control stick and pulling lazy loop-dee-loops. The red, on the other hand, looked older, more battle worn. It wasn't shabby in any sense of the word, but there was a certain creakiness that hinted that it was well past its prime, despite the new parts making it up. A small, blue hedgehog was piloting this one, dark sunglasses protecting his eyes from the wind and sun, and he had similar prowess at flying, though his skills seemed to be a little dusty.

If there had been any civilians left in Hill Top Zone, they might have found it unusual that there was an equally blue hedgehog standing on the top wing of the azure aircraft and two blotches of crimson perched in the same fashion on the ruby plane, but, as it were, they were all long gone. The only living souls to see them approach were the feral animals of the Zone and two sets of highly intelligent eyes, one pair filled with pure innocence and the other clouded with evil.

Dr. Eggman and his captive watched the lazy descent of the _Tornados_ from the top of a steep incline. The human was floating silently in his Egg-O-Matic while Tails was sitting in a giant tube extending from a metal pedestal placed firmly into the ground, looking completely dejected and slightly banged up. He was sporting a black eye, and there were large welts on his arms from where he had been held in place all night by strong robot hands. He flinched every time Orbot and Cubot – both small 'bots bickering and pin wheeling around his small prison – got too close to the tube or their arguments got a little too loud.

"They're early…" Eggman mumbled, obviously not meaning for the fox to hear. The four-year-old's ears popped up anyway and he raised his dark eyes to stare up at the human.

"Sonic's the fastest thing alive." He retorted, a fire still in his eyes despite his obvious fatigue.

The doctor looked at the fox coolly, but obviously didn't think that comment worthy of a response, because he turned forward again without replying. "Orbot! Cubot!" He ordered, catching the attention of the two badniks from where they had been chasing each other down a nearby hill. The 'bots looked up, their eyes soulless in the harsh sun. "Go retrieve robot 9-23-93!"

"Right away, sir!" Orbot replied, batting a hand out and hitting its companion in the head when it made no response.

"Wha?" Cubot sputtered, internal processers working in overdrive. "Oh, gotcha!" With that, both robots dashed off into the distance, over a hill, yelling at each other the whole way.

Robotnik watched them go with an unreadable expression, and he turned forward again just in time to catch sight of a bright flash of blue in the distance. Seconds later, the sharp crack of a sonic boom shot toward them.

"We shall see just how _fast_ he is…" The human sneered toward the fox seconds before an angry bipedal hedgehog catapulted himself toward the doctor.

o0o

When they landed on Westside Island, Mini-Sonic felt a jolt go through him. His Big Brother Instincts flared to life when he dropped out of the _Tornado_, and his internal compass alerted him to the direction he needed to go before his eyes could even comprehend the area around him. He was gone seconds later, unaware of the shouts telling him to wait that followed.

He shot across the semi-familiar landscape in milliseconds, and he came upon Eggman and his little brother in a heartbeat. Another heartbeat later, and he had the whole situation categorized and he was spinning through the air toward the evil man. He slammed into the Egg-O-Matic, tearing right through like it was made of air. With a partially-feral growl, he landed on his feet and spun around to face his enemy. Eggman was trying, in vain, to keep his weapons mech floating, but was steadily failing as it was getting closer and closer to the ground with each second that passed.

"Release Tails, Robotnik." Sonic snarled, darting too quickly for the naked eye to track up to the human. He shoved his nose against the grotesque face of the other and his eyes were hard pieces of flint, dangerously unemotional and without remorse. Eggman gulped to himself, realizing almost too late that he may have under-thought his original plan.

He had assumed that Sonic would be angry… But, he had underestimated the emotional reach of the Mobians. Even now, after having observed them firsthand, he still misjudged the entirety of the species. They were animals, and therefore should not have emotional connections… only instincts. But, from what he was seeing here, he was sorely mistaken, and this might have thrown a hypothetical wrench into his plans.

"I will _not_ release him, rodent." The human snapped back to the hedgehog's demands, putting on his angry face. "Unless you comply with everything that I say. Do I make myself clear?"

Sonic was so angry, he could have spat in the human's face right then, but he resisted the urge, for Tails' sake. With a glare of pure hatred, he backed away, giving the evil man room to breathe. This seemed all the egg-shaped human needed, and he rose from his now nonfunctional mech. With barely a pause, he reached out and backhanded the blue Mobian standing feet away, sending him stumbling to the ground, cradling his cheek. Tails yelled out from inside his cylindrical prison, spitting out a word too nasty for his four-year-old mouth.

"That was for my Egg-O-Matic." Robotnik spat. "Now, shall we get to business? We both have thing-" His statement was cut off when a different blue form slammed its red-sneakered feet into the paunchy man's back, only kicking with enough force to send the man stumbling.

"Yo, Eggman." The dark blue form of Sonic the Hedgehog, the twenty year old, landed with grace and poise inches from his younger self, positioning himself in a way that slightly guarded the still stunned hedgehog from view. "Terrorizing young kids again? C'mon, man. I thought you were past that." He _tsk_ed under his breath. "All that progress… Gone."

When the doctor didn't reply, the older hedgehog rolled his eyes. "Hey, Baldy McNosehair, I'm talking to you-!"

"_What did you just call me_? !" Robotnik roared, turning on the taller hedgehog, eyes blazing.

"…Baldy McNosehair. Don't you remember?" Sonic easily avoided a swipe taken at his head. "Your amusement park?" No response besides a seething glare from the human. "No? You okay, doc? You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"Enough!" Robotnik declared, glaring at the two hedgehogs. "In case you have both forgotten, I still have your little friend under my power, and I will not release him until you do what I want!"

"You sound like a whiny child, Robotnik." Mini-Sonic remarked as he finally rose to his feet, his face slightly red from the hit.

"_It doesn't matter what I sound like_!" Eggman roared, finally fed up. "Heed me!" The Sonics shared a snicker while their foe began his rant. "As you can see, I have your little friend trapped in an impenetrable, indestructible cylinder!" He swept his hand toward the four-year-old fox inside of his prison, not bothering to turn around. "The only way to open that cage is if you have the combination for the hidden keypad, but to get to that, you need the code for the six digit security lock, but _that_ is hidden behind a panel only opened with _this_ key!" So saying, he reached into a coat pocket and produced a simple looking silver key, holding it up proudly. "And the only way to get it from me is to pry it from my cold, _dead_ fingers!"

"Or, you know…" The elder of the two hedgehogs replied lazily from where he was laying on the ground, looked just as bored as he felt. "Just have Knuckles rip the panel off and have Tails crack the six digit code…" His right index finger easily flopped away from where it had been cradling his face and pointed to something behind the ranting man.

Eggman whipped around faster than Sonic thought possible, throwing his full weight into the action. He gasped, his eyes widening behind his goggles. "Hey!" He yelled, growling. "Get away from there!"

The elder Tails, who was focused intently on the keypad in front of him, glanced up for a brief second, transferring the screwdriver from his right hand to between his teeth. Knuckles was standing sentry next to him, grinning smugly with his arms crossed. Easily, he raised a gloved fist and gave a short wave to the human, his smirk widening.

Eggman growled audibly again, before turning back to the hedgehogs. "No matter." He said slowly, grin widening across his face. "The last key code is impossible to hack! That keypad has a Mobian based layout, but it's merged with the QWERTY keyboard _my_ species uses!"

Sonic's head tipped dangerously as he almost fell asleep, but he jerked himself awake at the last second. "Huh?" He asked, snarky grin snaking its way across his face. "Predictable man say what? Mustache is the code?" Dr. Eggman stared at him, briefly sharing a confused look with the younger hedgehog. "Oh, c'mon doc." The darker blue hedgehog goaded, sitting up and crossing his legs. "For someone so smart, you seriously need to come up with some better passwords. For the past five years they've ranged from 'mustache' to 'omelette du fromage'. Why don't you just tell me the code so we can get to the part where I blow up your newest mecha and we all go home?"

Just as he finished speaking, a loud _"Access denied_." rang out from the containment cylinder and Tails' face fell into a shocked expression. His shoulders went ridged and slowly, ever so slowly, his head started to shake, the universal symbol that something had gone horribly wrong. Eggman's grin widened further still, and he starting to cackle.

"You were saying, Sonic?" He asked in between peals. "Predictable I may be, but even the most predictable of patterns can have an anomaly!"

Across the clearing, Tails was franticly pounding in random codes, and was rewarded each time with a deep, negative beep. "Thirty-eight keys." He said loudly toward his younger self. The smaller fox was pressed directly against the glass, staring at his older persona, his dark eyes wide and pleading. "Any number of code parameters."

"Did you try six twenty-three, Mechanic?"

"No numbers, T2."

"Spell it out, no space."

The foxes shared a look and the younger nodded reassuringly toward his older counterpart. Macro-Tails, figuring that he had nothing to lose, punched the code in quickly, making sure to use the English characters. For three long seconds, the keypad computed, before dinging again.

"_Code Accepted. Welcome, Dr. Robotnik._"

"Yes!" The elder fox yelled, jumping up from his crouch. "How did you know?" He inquired of his younger self as the tube started to fill with smoke, assumedly to pressurize the glass for extraction.

The smaller vulpine's shrug was barely visible. "Sonic's birthday. Also, the first day Robotnik declared himself 'evil genius intent on taking over the world'."

"_Preparing transport. Stand by for confirmation_."

"Wait, what?"

The elder fox felt his stomach drop and he whipped toward Knuckles, his eyes huge. The echidna stared back, just as baffled. Together, they jerked toward the Sonics. The hedgehog seemed to sense their stare and distress and they turned as well. As one, four pairs of eyes locked. Violet, blue, green, and black met and they shared gazes for the space of a blink, but, somehow, a plan formulated in the short second.

Macro-Sonic _leapt. _

Robotnik fell.

Mini-Sonic darted up the hill and met Tails halfway there.

Tails grabbed the light blue hedgehog's hands, and, using his momentum, jerked both of their bodies in a sharp circle. One complete rotation later, and Sonic was catapulted toward Knuckles' waiting hands.

The echidna _pushed_ with all of his strength and Sonic managed to reach just under the speed of sound in approximately two-point-five seconds in a space of around two hundred feet.

Using that velocity, Sonic curled into a ball and _slammed_ into the glass cylinder.

Except, somehow, the cylinder was gone.

Along with Tails.

Sonic soared through the empty air, whistling over the metal pedestal that marked where Tails had just been standing. He landed a few dozen feet later, but wasted no time jerking around and darting back to the podium. With a pensive look, he placed his hands on the edges, staring down at it.

The bottom was missing, completely gone. All Sonic's eyes saw was black, complete and total.

But then, a sniffle and a gasp filtered its way up the hole.

"_Tails_!" Sonic yelled, clambering onto the plinth. "Can you hear- Urgh!"

As soon as Sonic had completely gotten himself onto the pedestal, the glass shot back up while the bottom closed over the hole. Unfortunately for the hedgehog, his body wasn't completely within the perimeter and the barrier knocked him onto his head in the middle of the circular prison when the wall rose. The top of the cylinder closed completely as the glass somehow warped itself into an arch and Sonic groaned, rubbing at his head.

"_What_?" He gasped, jumping to his feet so quickly he was a blur. He placed his hands on the glass and stared wide eyed at the only fox remaining. Tails stared back, his eyes equally wide before whipping his head around to look to the elder hedgehog for guidance. The other Sonic was wrestling with Eggman, trying to keep the human from sitting up, but he seemed half aware of what was going on, because he easily rolled away from the man, making sure to give him a good kick in the gut beforehand. He pulled himself to his feet out of his roll before leaping toward the cylinder, his body curled inward.

However, before he could reach the prison, something… _blue_ met him in the air and sent him careening to the ground. He landed on his back, cutting a rut into the ground as the force of the hit blindsided him.

"Ohohohoho!" A dramatic, echoing voice laughed, seemingly coming from everywhere. "Not so fast, Sonic!" The hedgehog picked his head up just as Tails and Knuckles reached him and, together, the two of them grabbed either of his arms and yanked him back to his feet. Then, as one, all three turned toward the source of the voice, their expressions dropping into looks of pure shock.

From the other side of the hill, Eggman's Egg-O-Matic rose into their line of sight, the wicked doctor himself seated in the place of honor. He was laughing again, a giant guffaw that reeked of success and triumph. Next to him, Orbot and Cubot sat on the dashboard of the mecha, seemingly grinning at the four Mobians.

"_Eggman_?" Tails seemed to be the first one to get his voice back, and he wasted no time gasping out the name. His head jerked toward where the human had been rolling on the ground with Sonic minutes before and his eyes widened even more when he spotted the man still sitting there, looking smug. He even had the gall to wave at the fox.

"You think you're the only ones allowed to have younger versions of yourselves?" The younger Robotnik asked, jumping to his feet with more dexterity than a man his size should possess. "I didn't know you were that selfish, _fox_." He scoffed.

"B-But…" Tails trailed off, glancing uneasily toward his big brother. The green-eyed hedgehog was staring intently at his younger self, barely paying attention, while the little Mobian was staring at the younger human with a sneer, the hatred clear on his face. "Where have you _been_?" The fox continued, turning back to the human. He barely noticed as the older of the humans floated toward the other.

"I had him cryogenically frozen to ease the transition." When the fox looked ready to ask another question, he cut across. "That doesn't matter. What matters is now, you've got both Eggman _and_ Robotnik to deal with now, you moronic Mobians!"

"Yeah, yeah, Eggman." The younger hedgehog said, the name sounding almost foreign in his voice. "Can we get on with this? I'm seriously not digging this prison thing. How much longer until I break out?"

"Never!" Robotnik crowned, coming to stand beside the floating Egg-O-Matic. "For, you see, I have an experiment planned, and I need both you and your little fox pet. Speaking of…" He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small remote. One button press later, and the ground beside the smaller Sonic's prison was sliding open. All of the Mobians watched with wide eyes as another, identical cylinder rose from the ground, except this one had a small golden form in it.

"_Tails!_"

"So, you see, Sonic," Eggman crowned, running his hand down the prison containing the fox, "I now have both of your past counterparts under my control! Thanks in part to the me of the past! As we speak, Metal Sonic – "

"Metal Sonic? !" The larger of the two hedgehog declared, his voice full of disbelief. "What is this, five years ago? I thought you were over those Sonic look-alikes."

"_I_ am." Eggman retorted. "The other Robotnik is not however, and I figured Metal was better than any badnik I could throw at you." He smirked. "For example, right now, Metal Sonic is collecting the younger version of you, Emerald Guardian, so do not think you will be so lucky as to escape what is happening." At the shocked looks of the others, his grin widened. "Yes, I'm aware that you left the small echidna with those aircraft of yours. It's not that hard to figure out.

"Now, since there is nothing you can do, and I have all of the time in the world, let me give a little explanation before we start our little experiment here.

"Chaos Energy, as I'm sure you know, fuels this planet. Of course, there are other energies, like Gaia and Sol, but Chaos is the prominent force that drives everything that happens. Many believe it to be benign, completely harmless, but _I_ know better!

"I started researching Chaos Energy as a child, after catching glimpses of it in my grandfather's notes. I learned quickly that it has three forms: positive, negative, and neutral. All three coincide together naturally, stabilizing each other. However, if you remove one from the equation, then the other two react violently toward each other. But, we'll get back to that later.

"For now, let's start on something simple: Chaos Flux. Or, as the Chaos Mythics like to call it, the Chaos String Theory. It is believed that Chaos Energy is not a generative substance, but a cycling one. Like water, it undergoes a circular rotation that recycles the old and replaces it with replenished, older energy. Of course, Chaos Energy is a cosmic entity, so it is not recycled in a single lifetime, nor in a millennium. It takes complete _eras_ for it to make a cycle.

"At least, in theory. For some reason, the cycle has sped up, so much so that it has been documented that we've seen the same piece of positive energy flare up hundreds of times in the past ten years. Care to hazard a guess as to what that was?"

Silence for three beats before the evil man answered himself.

"Why, it is _you_, Sonic! Every time you go Super, you use the same, _exact_ positive Energy. This, in all intents and purposes to the scientific community, is _impossible_. The energy, once you use it, _should_ disappear into the cycle, never to be seen again in living memory. But, somehow, it cycles _back_, completely rejuvenated and useable again, sometimes within the space of a few _hours_.

"This is an even stranger phenomenon if you consider another piece of the theory." He paused, making sure that everyone present was following him. Blank stares from three out of five individuals.

"All of the Energies flow along the timeline, just like we do. They are subjected to the current just as much as every other piece of matter, but Chaos Energy does it differently from the others. Gaia, for example, runs along the timeline from past to present, growing older along with the planet.

"The String Theory states that Chaos, on the other hand, flows from _future_ to present, getting _younger_ as the planet moves forward in time. For some, this is an impossible concept, because that means that the Chaos Energy affecting them _now_ is actually interacting with them for the first time, and the Energy that touched them _yesterday_ was intermingling with them for the second time. But, that is how it is.

"This is the principle that we will be testing here today." He swept his hand toward the two cylinders, where the younger versions of Sonic and Tails were standing in strong states of defiance. As if by some hidden cue, another cylinder rose from the ground, and Metal Sonic swooped in from nowhere, depositing the eleven-year-old form of Knuckles into the new prison. "You see, the reason it was so easy for you to go Super for the first time, Sonic, is that you had already _done it before_ as far as the Chaos Energy was concerned. It had already helped you over and over again in the future to go Super, so it was a simple task to influence you again, all those years ago on Westside Island.

"But, what would happen if we force the Chaos Energy _forward_, from _past_ to present? This has always intrigued me, even as a young boy, and now I have to chance to test it!" The human clapped his hands happily, and, behind him, Robotnik rolled his eyes behind his dark glasses. "The hypothesis is simple… What would happen if I did _this_?" His hand slammed down onto a giant green button on the control panel in front of him, and the tube Mini-Tails was contained in started to buzz in a high pitch. The little fox's ears folded into his head and his eyes widened a fraction of an inch before a bright bolt of emerald colored energy snaked out of a hidden spot on the floor and slammed into his chest, knocking him into the wall behind him. He slumped, his eyes even wider, and a peculiar shade of dark purple.

"Neutral Chaos flows through everything." Eggman continued as his captive audience stared at the fox in silence, unable to do anything. Tentatively, the four-year-old raised his hand to touch his head, and the rest of the assembled Mobians heaved a sigh of relief. "But, what most people don't know is that it is actually the most _destructive_ of the three types, simply because it contains equal parts of Positive and Negative. When it is traveling normally through the flow, it is harmless, unchangeable and stable, but, when it is forced in the opposite direction… Well, it will take it about five more seconds to get to the present, give or take a second."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did the older fox standing a few feet away double over, clutching at his heart. An unnatural scream ripped out of his throat, and he fell over, unable to stay upright. He squirmed along the ground, pushing himself along the dirt as his feet pin wheeled uncontrollably. The rest of the procession watched with mixed expressions of horror, worry, and glee. Then, seconds after it started, it ended, and he lay still, twitching slightly as sparks of green jumped across the fur along his spine.

"_Tails_!" The twenty-year-old voice of Sonic ripped its way out of his throat and he moved to go to his younger brother. However, the Egg Fighter standing feet away from Tails pointed its gun at the fox's prone form, halting the hedgehog's movements.

"Ah-ah, Hedgehog." Eggman tutted, waving a finger. "We can't have you mess up the flow, not yet anyway. As we speak, the Neutral Energy is swirling around inside of him, trying to catch its bearings now that it has reached the present. Already, the altered state of the Chaos is realizing that something is wrong, and it is separating itself. Because your fox is Positive Endowed, the Positive will separate and tend to his fried nerves, healing him from the inside out. The Negative, however, will be catapulted back in the correct direction of the flow." As he was speaking, Tails gave one last, strong spasm and lay completely motionless, only the rise and fall of his chest giving away his state of mortality. "In approximately ten seconds, the Negative Energies will find the problem and try to fix it."

A weighted silence fell as all eyes turned to the semi-conscious form of the younger fox. The tension grew as the seconds built, and Mini-Sonic felt his heart drop all the way into his shoes, seemingly taking the muscles in his legs with it. He collapsed onto his knees and slumped forward against the glass just as his little brother's back arched and his mouth opened in a silent scream. The fox's strange amethyst colored eyes widened completely, and the whole of the audience, even the robots, took in a collective breath as they started to glow with an inner light. The Chaos Energy, now warped from what it had originally been, exited his being through his eyes, completely saturating the pigment and taking the dark, soulless hue with it as it departed.

When the fox slumped backwards again, seconds later, still somehow conscious, his eyes were staring forward unseeingly. But, that wasn't the thing that sent shivers up and down the spines of every individual within seeing distance.

It was the bright, cerulean hue they had been transformed to.

"Ohohohoho!" Eggman cackled, throwing his hands into the air. "A success! A complete and total success! The Energy has completely rerouted itself and overwhelmed the fox! He will surely be paralyzed for the next hour, at least! Not to mention the other side effects!"

"Blasphemy." A quiet voice mumbled, and Eggman whipped around, trying to find its source. Seconds later, it came again, this time louder. "What you're doing here, is blasphemous, Eggman!" Knuckles the Echidna, previously struck silent at the display in front of him, was seething. His hands were fists at his side and his breathing was quick and labored. "The Chaos Energies are _not_ to be tampered with this way! You're throwing off the balance!"

"Heresy is just another word for freedom of thought, Emerald Guardian." Eggman replied calmly, lazily pushing a button in front of him. Seconds later, another bright spark of green snaked out of a hidden spot, this time headed for the eleven-year-old incarnation of Knuckles.

As the process repeated itself, this time with the Guardian of Angel Island, the elder hedgehog slipped past the robot guarding Tails; it was too busy basking in the glory of a happy master anyway. He dropped to his knees beside his little brother and ran his hand along the golden forehead of his friend, ignoring Knuckles' screams. "Tails…" He whispered, choking on the word. "Please, buddy. Talk to me."

"_S…Sonic_?" The hedgehog almost collapsed out of relief as the fox's weak voice broke into the air.

"Hey, lil'bro'." The speedster greeted happily, his voice thick. "You okay?"

"I think so…" Tails replied, glancing around. When he caught sight of a writhing older Knuckles and his semi-unconscious younger self, his eyes widened and he whipped his head toward his own younger self. Something he saw must have somehow given him a sense of relief, because he relaxed a little. Sonic looked backward over his shoulder and was shocked to see that the blue in the little fox's eyes was fading, turning back into the black they had been previously.

"It takes a while for the change to take place." Tails explained after Sonic made a confused sound. "And he's outside of the timeline right now, so the Energy affects him – them – differently than Eggman predicted. More than likely, once they go back, their – our – eyes will slowly change to the colors they are now."

Sonic nodded once the canine was finished speaking. "So, tell me Tails, what exactly would all of that positive energy do to _me_?"

The grin the fox sent him was positively devious.

o0o

To say their plan was sewn together would be an understatement. Only the two of them were aware of it, and it all relied on one, small possibility.

But, still, at least they had _something_.

Step 1: Goad Eggman into trying the Chaos Energy transfer on the younger hedgehog.

That was easily done, all things considered. "If you're so sure that this can stop _me_," the twenty-year-old practically crowned, attempting to sound like Eggman himself, "then why don't you _try_ it!"

To which Eggman replied (predictably): "Fine!" And slammed his hand onto the button again.

Mini-Sonic's eyes had widened at that, and he had sent one, dark, accusing glare at his older self. Said elder incarnation had simply grinned reassuringly, his whole being radiating _confidence_, and the younger had had no choice but to hope and pray that he had a plan.

Seconds later, all thought left him as the green Energy hit.

Step 2: Funnel all of the Positive Energy he could into the Chaos Emerald hidden in his dark blue quills, while still keeping enough in his system. Also, if possible, expel any Negative Energy.

This was easier said than done, he realized.

To Eggman, it looked as if Sonic was undergoing the same thing the others had. He writhing, that was good. He was groaning, that was excellent. He was even _glowing,_ something none of the others had done. Quickly, he attributed this to Sonic's strong affinity for Chaos, and felt the giddiness building inside of him almost reach breaking point. If the _older_ reacted this amazingly, how would the younger fare?

Then, just as the thought crossed his mind, the impossible happened.

The small glow grew to a flare, and it exploded outward, almost blinding the evil doctor. Behind him, he heard his younger incarnation fall over. When he managed to blink away the spots clouding his vision, he was shocked to see the floating, glaring, _unattainable without seven Chaos Emeralds_, form of Super Sonic.

"Wh-_what_?" He gasped.

"You see, Eggman," a young voice whispered conspiratorially in his ear and he whipped around to see the smiling face of Tails the Fox inches away from his person. (Belatedly, he wondered where Metal Sonic was and why it wasn't keeping flying fox kids away from his person.) "You miscalculated the _amount _of Positive Energy given off by your little transfer here. There was more than enough to turn Sonic Super…" Suddenly, something flashed through the air, and Tails lazily caught it, cradling the shining form of the green Chaos Emerald to his chest afterwards. "In fact, there was _so much_ that he managed to funnel enough of it for _another_ Super transformation into this Emerald. After all, I'm sure you're aware that the Emeralds work like batteries. They charge on whatever power source is nearby, and for this one, it just happened to be the Positive Energy."

The doctor opened his mouth to argue back, but Tails cut him off. "And, before you ask about the negative that's supposed to backfire back through the time stream, that's all up in the air now. The Sonic from the past is safe from your little game here." He paused, idly flying backwards, away from the human and toward the prison Mini-Sonic was crouched in, watching the proceedings with a satisfied expression. Next to him, the four-year-old fox was wide awake and grinning enthusiastically toward his elder self. "Forgot to carry the one, didn't you?"

For some reason, that simple insult seemed to flip a switch inside the human and he roared a command to attack. In a blur of blue, Metal Sonic shot into the air from where it had been protecting the still form of Robotnik. The Sonic look-a-like darted towards Tails, but didn't get very close before a bright golden form slammed into it, sending it tumbling to the ground.

For Mini-Sonic, everything happened even too fast for him to compute, and he simply watched with wide eyes. He could only stare as Metal Sonic picked itself up from the ground and fired itself back towards Super Sonic, its boosters flaring. He could only ogle as Tails flew towards him, Emerald clutched in both of his hands. The fox catapulted himself towards his prison, and, when he reached it, he slammed the Emerald as hard as he could, point down, in the glass. A spider web of cracks snaked their way across his whole field of vision, and the Emerald started to glow a brilliant green color, so bright that he had to look away.

Seconds later, the Emerald flared so bright it outshined the sunlight streaming through the clouds, and that was the last thing Sonic saw before everything went dark.

o0o

The darkness was total, so complete that it smothered his whole being, blanketing him and weighing him down. It so was absolute that, for a brief moment, he completely forgot that he had a body; he simply became a hovering presence, extremities such as fingers or legs obsolete in this environment. However, eventually, realization hit that his head was throbbing, a gentle, steady, staccato beat right at his temples. With that placid pulse as a reminder, his heart picked up the pace, pounding in his ears as if to remind him that he was still alive. Next came the rhythm of breathing, something much more difficult to comprehend because it took conscious effort. The hardest breath was the first, but once his lungs tasted the sweet tang of oxygen, he realized what he was missing and he gulped in huge gasps.

Time was impossible to measure. He laid there on the ground for what seemed like a few minutes, but could have been days, years, or millenniums. After that immeasurable time period, he sat up slowly, his mind whirling. The darkness was deep, so unfathomable that he had to close his eyes.

Suddenly, light flared. The flash was so sharp and bright, it seemed to stab through his eyelids, right into his retinas. He flinched back, almost falling over, and struggled to raise his hands to cover his eyes. Just as he felt the soft fabric of his gloves brush against his lids, something grabbed his hands, pulling them gently away. The hold was tender, barely there, but still strong enough to hold him in place. Instinctively, he flinched, his backbone going straight, and tried to pull away. A soft, melodic voice stopped him.

"It's okay, young hedgehog." It was female, the kindness of the tone almost tangible. "I mean you no harm. Please, open your eyes and see."

Sonic hesitated for half a second, but the hands clutching his squeezed reassuringly, helping to steel his nerve. Slowly, he eased his eyelids open, and was pleasantly surprised when no intense spark of light blinded him. Instead, a steady glow was coming from somewhere above him, casting strange shadows across his body. He blinked once, slowly, before looking down at his hands. They were still gripped tightly, and he felt his eyes slowly analyzing every curve and dip of the fingers. The gloves were a much cruder version than his own, almost ancient looking in the weave and fabric. Slowly, he followed the arm attached to the left hand, taking note of the blue bracelet clasped around the cuff of the glove and the gold band hugging her bicep. Her fur was orange, and her clothing was older looking, like it was from a different time period. The skirt was made with bright diamonds of green, cream, and pink sewn into it, while the shirt was simple, a vivid, almost impossible white. A gold necklace with a blue stone inlaid hung around her neck.

Immediately, once his eyes reached her head, he realized that she was an echidna. Only one species on the planet had spines that fell and clumped together like hers, despite the white wrappings around some of them. A small band of gold with the same color stone as her necklace rested on her brow, completing her ensemble. She looked to be about thirteen or fourteen.

Finally, he let his eyes meet hers. Her gaze was intense, too intense for one so young, and it told of a troubled life. However, the smile on her lips was easy and kind and inviting and Sonic immediately felt at ease.

"You see?" She asked, her voice echoing slightly. "No harm will come to you here."

Sonic's ear flicked uncertainly at that and he glanced around uneasily. "Uh, I don't mean to seem rude, but, where _is_ here?"

The girl's smile narrowed just a tad. "That is of no consequence, young Sonic. This is simply a place that exists in between everything. It is a safe place where we may speak without interruption."

Sonic's brown wrinkled at that, but he chose not to press further. "How do you know my name?" He asked instead.

She let out a small chuckle, finally letting go of his hands so she could sweep her own out in a grand gesture. "Who does not know the name of Mobius' hero?" She answered cryptically.

Sonic huffed at that, but didn't have an argument. "Well, I seem to be at a disadvantage. What's your name?"

"I am known as many things." She answered. "But, you may call me Tikal. It was my first and oldest name."

The hedgehog nodded. "It's nice to meet you Tikal. Do you think you could tell me what's going on here?" He changed tack quickly, as was true of his nature, and the girl chuckled again.

"Yes, I can." Her smile dropped after that and her face morphed into an unhappy expression. "Our time here is brief and I have much to tell you…" Sonic nodded once, signaling for her to continue. "I shall just be blunt with you. You are here because the timeline is falling apart."

"Huh?" Sonic cocked his head to the side.

"Mobius is a mystical planet, different from all of the others in the universe, because it was formed through the combined efforts of the multiple energies flowing through it. Because of this, there are certain balances that must be kept, such as the balance between Chaos and Gaia, and the timeline is one of them." She paused, making sure that Sonic was following her. "You see, there is not meant to be more than one form of every individual at a time. The simple fact that you and Tails and Knuckles have managed to survive in the future for so long is a testament to how much the Chaos Energies admire and need you, but, in a few months time, if you are not back in your own time, even the Chaos will not be able to keep the time stream from collapsing. Time will stop and the planet will be plunged into pandemonium."

"But… we don't know _how_ to get back." Sonic argued. "Trust me, if we knew, we'd go back. As much as I admire my older self, I want to live my own life…"

"I can help you a tad with that." Tikal answered, smiling kindly again. "You will need all seven Emeralds, first and foremost."

"Of course."

"I cannot tell you much more after that. I cannot see exactly what you have to do, but the Master Emerald will know. Consult it once you have all seven, and it will show you what to do next."

Sonic sighed, blowing the breath out through his nose. "Is that all? I do that every time Robotnik attacks."

"There is one more thing." Tikal reached out and grabbed Sonic's hands again, clutching them tight and staring at him. "You _must_ be back in your own time by the end of your older self's twenty-first birthday. If you are in this time period for one second over the one year mark, then everything will fall apart. Midnight on the twenty-third of June."

"Midnight," Sonic snorted. "Of course."

"I can get you started," Tikal continued, as if the hedgehog had spoken. "The next Emerald you seek is right under your nose. All you have to do is look through the haze."

"The haze? What haze?"

She shook her head. "I cannot tell for sure. Just know that you are almost there, and I have faith in you." She stood then, and Sonic's eyebrow quirked when she reached down to help him up. He rose on his own, instead choosing to take her extended hand into his own and staring at their clasped fingers, as if trying to figure out if he was dreaming or not.

"You don't need to worry. I mean, if my older self is still alive and the planet is still turning, then we succeed, right?"

The female echidna smiled sadly. "No." She answered assuredly. "Do not take such comfort from your older self. You must remember, it is your actions that shape who he is, not he who forms yours." She allowed him a pause to contemplate her words. "Now, walk with me? It has been so long since I have been able to stretch my legs."

If Sonic found that statement strange, he didn't say anything, just simply offered his arm to her, which she took loosely. They walked aimlessly for an unknown amount of time, both stuck in their own thoughts. Eventually, they came upon a collection of small buildings, each made of glass and perilously held together with what looked like thin pieces of string.

"These are representations of the cities and civilization that Chaos has decimated in times of crisis." She turned slightly and nodded to a building further up their path. "That is the one that it is trying to save, the one that will result if you fail." The glass structure was huge and it towered over both of the small Mobians. Sonic craned his neck back to try to catch a glimpse of the peak, but it disappeared into the darkness above them. He gulped.

"No pressure."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a loud roar filled the space around them. It echoed its way into Sonic's skull and rattled between his ears, igniting his headache.

"Chaos calls to me." Tikal whispered, pulling her arm away from the hedgehog's. "You must go." She turned toward him, her smile seemingly forced. "I wish you luck. I will be watching and will help whenever I can."

Sonic's vision started to swim at the end of her statement, but he clutched at consciousness. "Wait! Will I ever see you again? !"

"Yes."

A smile finally wormed its way onto the hedgehog's face and he succumbed completely to the darkness threatening him.

"Though, you won't remember who I am…" Tikal whispered before she disappeared in a flash.

o0o

"_He's breathing. I don't understand it. Why did the Emerald knock him out?"_

…

"_Thanks so much for coming, Professor Pickle. You're the only person I know who has experience in this."_

…

"_What exactly happened, Mechanic? How come our eyes changed colors?"_

"_Our bodies are adept at channeling Chaos Energies, T2, and Eggman forced so much Energy through you that it changed your eye pigmentation. It was going to happen anyway, from the prolonged exposure we all get from the Emeralds; Eggman just sped up the process. Once you get back to your proper time, your eyes will slowly turn blue, like mine."_

…

…

…

"_What happened to Metal Sonic?"_

"_We were fighting over one of Hill Top's major volcanoes and I pushed it in. Never came back out."_

…

"_He's been swimming in and out of consciousness for three days now. I'm getting worried." _

o0o

When Sonic became aware of the world around him, past the small snippets of conversation he had been hearing, it was with great difficulty and strain. His mind was whirling, attempting to get a grasp on reality. Slowly, he focused on his breathing, hoping that the steady rhythm would help make the transition easier.

Soon enough, he realized that there was a round weight resting on his stomach, and his hand rose from touch it. His glove was missing, so his bare, tan fingers danced across the soft surface of familiar fur. He rested his palm completely on the spherical object, and flinched slightly when it jumped.

"Hrm, ten more minutes, big bro'." Tails' young voice yawned, eliciting a chuckle from the hedgehog, despite his fatigue. He smiled and opened his eyes just enough to see Tails turn his head, his familiar dark eyes blinking sleepily at him. When the fox realized that Sonic was looking _back_ at him, he shot straight up. "Sonic?"

"Yup." The word was labored. "How you doing, kiddo?"

"Sonic!" Tails leapt fully onto the little hedgehog's chest, knocking all of the wind out of him. "You're okay! I was so worried! You just passed out when the tube broke apart and you wouldn't move no matter how much I poked you and Knuckles carried you back here and you've been lying in the bed for three days and… Are you really okay, Sonic?"

"Never better squirt." Sonic laughed back, rubbing the fox's head. "How about me and you get some sleep? We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow?"

"How come Sonic? Did you dream up something real important?"

"You could say that."

* * *

><p><em>I secret ship Sonic X Tikal. Ssh. Don't judge me. <em>

_Important notice time: Unfortunately, with graduation and a very busy month of May ahead of me, I will have to put this story on hiatus until after I get back from my family vacation in Florida in June. I apologize to everyone, but I don't want another month long gap between updates to happen with no word from me. _

_I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and, feel free to drop me a line if anything confused you and I will be happy to explain it. _

_Reviews are cherished. _


	33. The Meaning of Life is that it Stops

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"The meaning of life is that it stops."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> I planned on this prompt being full of angst and melodrama and general Shadow-ness, but I wrote most of it while at Disney World, the land of happiness, smiles, and screaming children, and I was inspired. So, here, after a long hiatus, have this adequate chapter of feel good SEGA (Disney) magic. Pixie dust not included.

Also, a big happy 21st birthday goes out to our resident Blue Blur! I can't believe it's already been a year.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Resident(s):<em>

_You are cordially invited to attend the opening ceremony _of The Sonic the Hedgehog ExperienceTM_, a new generation of theme park located in the newly rebuilt Scrap Brain Zone on South Island! Set in a prime location right on the coast of the Southside Sea, only seconds away from the beach, it is the perfect vacation spot for all ages! For the little ones, take a ride on the _Flying Carpets of the Arabian NightsTM_, and for the older kids, an indoor coaster simply called _Night of the Werehog®_ awaits to Unleash Its Fury. For whole families, jump into the _Bingo Highway Bumper CarsTM _or explore our included water park, _Living Labyrinth®. _For a change of pace, simply stop by one of our two fabulous museums, one built entirely from repurposed sections of the old Scrap Brain Zone and housing a plethora of powered down badniks; the other, located in _Greenhill_, a section of the park meant to look exactly like Sonic the Hedgehog's first home, pays homage to the Blue Blur himself, with Sonic memorabilia and life-like animatronics of Sonic and all of his friends!_

_Since you have received this invitation, you are guaranteed a free pass on opening day. Just simply show this letter to the Ticket Master – located adjacent to the entrance gates – and they will exchange it for a one day pass. Don't miss out on this amazing opportunity!_

_See you soon!_

o0o

Sonic the Hedgehog stared down at the flowery writing on the piece of paper in front of him, reading the words out loud slowly, so all could understand. It was written in English, a language not uncommon to the Mobian people, but still almost rare to find on a piece of Mobian mail, and Sonic took the time to carefully translate the words back to the Mobian language, making the message easier to understand. The return address was somewhere in Station Square, and the postcard itself had a poorly draw picture of Sonic smiling and holding a thumbs up on it.

"We should go." Tiny Tails said instantly, milliseconds after the twenty-year-old had finished reading. "We should go." He said again, turning to the ten-year-old version of the dark blue Mobian. "Can we go?" He stared at Sonic's face with huge eyes. "Please, please, please, please, please –"

"Is this some kind of joke?" Mini-Sonic asked, speaking over the four-year-old's unending tirade of adorable begging. (Sonic made a mental note not to look down at him, for fear that he would instantly say yes with one look at his face.)

"If this is some kind of joke, it's a sick one." The elder of the two foxes replied, snatching the invitation out of Sonic's gloved hand and staring at it himself. He flipped it over once he had read the words printed there.

"I think we should go." The older of the two hedgehogs replied, his voice almost getting drowned out by the barrage of 'pleases' still escaping from the tiny fox kit. "It'll be fun!"

Two flat looks met his statement and Mini-Sonic grabbed the card and shoved it into his older incarnation's face. "My arms are _blue_."

The green eyed hero raised an eyeridge. "I believe those are _our_ arms, lil'me."

"Not today. Today, those arms belong to the sane hedgehog in the room."

"_C'mon _Sonic! Big bro'! Let's go to the _theme park_! Maybe they have a ride based off of _me_! Wouldn't that be cool? ! Please? ! Let's go! I wanna go! Please?" Macro-Sonic's reply was cut short as the smaller fox kit changed tactics, his words coming faster and faster.

"Tails…" The past version of Sonic began, his tone colored with warning.

"Yes, Sonic?" The child smiled almost-cheekily toward his older brother.

Sonic took the time to glare at the small fox before sighing. "Why don't you go blow something up in the Workshop? You're too wound up."

"Okay!" The youngster chirped, bolting off.

"How does such a small body have so much energy in it?" The smaller hedgehog asked rhetorically, placing a hand on his forehead and shaking his head for good measure. "Anyway," he began, turning back to the two older Mobians, "what are we gonna do about this theme park?"

"I still say we should go." The elder hedgehog half-mumbled, idly tracing the Möbius strip drawn in the background of the postcard with his index finger. "Check it out and make sure it's not a threat or whatever."

"It's a _theme park_, older me." The light blue Mobian replied, sitting down at the kitchen table next to his adult self.

"Yeah, well, the last theme park I was in was just a giant ploy by Eggman to enslave a whole alien race and use their energy for his own evil purpose. Ring a bell?"

"Oh, right…" The younger trailed off. Then, something seemed to occur to him and he set his older self with a look. "I highly doubt that Eggman would use the same plan twice. He prides himself on being 'unpredictable'." Finger air quotes accompanied the last word, further emphasizing his point.

"Well, yeah." the elder replied, rolling his eyes, "but Eggman's not the _only_ bad guy out there, you know."

The younger hedgehog opened his mouth to reply, but he seemed to think better of it because his mouth shut with a _snap_ and he sighed. "You have a point…" He paused, considering something. "How did they build this place without you knowing?"

Sonic shrugged. "We get mail every three months or something and since Knuckles has his sent here, when it does come, there's a lot of it. Unsorted of course, so we usually just throw it in the closet or something and don't look at it until we get more and throw that away too."

Tails sighed, blowing his bangs out of his face. "No, you check for mail every three months; we get it every week. All of that stuff in the closet is fan mail."

"That would explain why that closet smells so good…" Sonic trailed off. "Fangirls like to spray perfume in their letters." He explained to his younger self's benefit.

"Ugh." The smaller hedgehog said in response, his face practically horrified.

"Besides," Tails continued, ignoring the exchange, "we got a letter like two years ago asking for permission to build the place, and you ignored me when I brought it up, so they went ahead with it. They've been sending us monthly royalty checks – _in the mail_ – so we don't sue them."

Sonic took half a second to pick his jaw off of the floor before speaking. "Okay, that's neat." A pause. "We should totally go."

Tails shook his head, getting up from the table and moving toward the workshop. "I'll go, if you can convince the younger you to. I'm sure the little me'll be thrilled." With that, he swept out of the room.

Suddenly, the twenty-year-old whipped toward the dark eyed, shorter hedgehog, his eyes wide and his hands clasped under his chin. "Pleeeeaaase… Can we go?"

A flat look, perfectly practiced, was leveled in his direction. "You are twenty years old. Act like it."

"And you're ten, and you act like you're fifty. Take your own advice."

The smaller didn't reply, instead resorting to staring at the other with a haughty expression, lip pouted outward like only a child could. Meanwhile, the elder was glaring back, his hands on his hips and his face incredulous. The seconds ticked by as an impromptu staring contest began.

An immeasurable amount of time later, the younger hedgehog sighed. "Fine." The other Mobian's face broke into a smile and he opened his mouth to say something, but the smaller stopped him with a raised hand. "I don't want to hear another word about this. I said I'll go; I don't want it mentioned again until the day of."

"_Yay!_" A small, high pitched voice yelled, its owner rushing into the room and practically tackling Mini-Sonic with a hug. "We're going to the theme park?_!_" Little Tails yelled into the ten-year-old's triangular ear. It twitched. A suffering nod answered the question and the fox squealed again. "Oh, thank you Sonic! Yay!"

The light blue hedgehog sighed, practically defeated and placed the kit back onto the floor. "Yeah, well, who am I to deny someone as cute as you what they want?" He glanced sideways at his older self, ignoring the smug expression.

"I've trained you well." The elder fox mumbled as he walked back into the room. "I see you've managed to convince yourself that it's okay to go."

"Yup." The oldest Mobian in the room answered, tone self righteous. "Only took five minutes."

Tails quirked an eyebrow. "Really? You had a backbone back then. You're a pushover now."

"Yeah, well… Whatever. We're going to the theme park."

"Yay!"

o0o

The following week constantly found little Sonic sitting on the couch, in front of the television with the screen split between six different various news and weather channels. At any point in the day, one could randomly hear him yelling things like, "Get to the weather already!" or "What?_!_ Not even a _little_ rain for Scrap Brain Zone?" or even, "_Negative ten percent_?_!_ That's not even a _real_ percentage!"

The other three occupants of the house gave him a wide berth, deciding it was better to let him get his frustration out while they were still in private than at the park, where his good name could get tarnished. Though, when he said "Can't a hurricane just hit Scrap Brain? Please?" his older self really thought he was pushing it, all things considered.

"Real hero like of you, Little Blue. Wishing a killer storm on an island because of some tourist trap."

The younger just mumbled some choice words under his breath.

So, when the opening day of The Sonic the Hedgehog Experience dawned, bright and cheery, one light blue hedgehog's disposition was the complete opposite. He woke at six in the morning, as had been agreed to the night before, his dark eyes pieces of flint and his face set in a stony expression of contempt. He practically dragged Mini-Tails out of bed, grumbling the whole way, and pushed the fox towards the hangar with a palpable dark aura about his person. They passed the future incarnations of themselves and the two took a small step backwards, sending sympathetic smiles toward the smaller fox.

"Let's go, future fakers." He practically barked.

The older hedgehog's jaw dropped and a scoff escaped his throat. He looked ready to say something, but his younger self cut him off.

"I can fly the plane if you two plan on staying here."

Tails let out a suffering sigh, grabbed a small red vest off of the back of a chair, and rushed after the rapidly disappearing forms of the past manifestations. The elder Sonic blinked once before setting his jaw and stomping after his friends, mental preparing himself for a day filled with complaints and pointed comments.

_I'm so glad I don't act like that now._

o0o

When they arrived at the park, Mini-Sonic's demeanor had brightened a smidgen. The flight over had helped clear his head, and, not to mention, he had seen some ominous looking clouds in the distance, which helped to raise his spirits considerably. Sonic was hoping for some rain – not a huge storm, but not a light drizzle either. He just wanted enough rain to justify him trundling his four-year-old little brother home, enabling him to leave the chaos forsaken theme park. Of course, the weather forecast for opening day was dry as a desert, but, now that he had been in the air and seen the tell-tale clouds, he was filled with new hope. Of course, when he mentioned this to the others, they simply shook their heads and smiled at him, as if humoring him. He had chosen not to speak after that.

So, when they landed the _Tornado_ and disembarked onto the hot asphalt that marked the entrance to the park, he looked a little happier than he had when they had left. He was not, however, even close to his usual cheerful character, which, of course, his little brother picked up on immediately.

"Sonic?" The four-year-old kit asked as he sidled up to the hedgehog's side, grabbed his gloved hand, and looked up at him with huge dark eyes. "Are you excited? Even a little?"

The young hero struggled to keep the grimace off of his face, instead shoving a hasty smile into place in a split second. "I'm ecstatic, big guy, really. I'm just a little… wary right now." When Tails cocked his head to the side adorably, a questioning look on his face, Sonic smiled for real. "I don't know what to expect." He explained, reaching down to rub the fox between the ears. "Don't worry about it. I'll be alright."

"You sure?"

"Positive." Giving his best friend a small thumbs up, he let out a small breath. "Just make sure you have fun, and I'll have fun too, okay?"

"Okay." The vulpine answered firmly, putting one strong nod with the word for emphasis.

A few minutes later, after having waited for the older fox to find a place to safely stow the plane, the elder two-tail caught up with them and they started toward the gates as a large unit, moving quite slowly, considering who they were. They took in the mass of tourists – a plethora of people and Mobians of all shapes, sizes, species, and ethnic backgrounds – which had looked like a giant, black blob from the _Tornado_, and let out a collective sigh. The elder fox pulled his red vest tight around his shoulders after digging a pair of sunglasses out of his pocket. He shared a suffering look with his older brother before the twenty-year-old rolled his eyes and accepted an identical pair from the fox. The other two watched them with blank expressions before the elder canine turned to them and produced two more pairs, dealing them out like cards.

The sunglasses would provide a minimal amount of protection from the crowd. For some reason, when faced with a pair of sunglasses, the random passerby on the street would have a hard time equating a blue hedgehog with the name 'Sonic'. Of course, the tactic only worked for about three seconds before they realized, but, for Sonic and Tails, three seconds was a long time. Of course, with two of each of them now, they would probably have a hard time hiding from curious looks, but it was worth a shot.

Once they were all successfully hidden, they continued forward, even slower than before, eyeing the crowd warily. The bulk of the people seemed preoccupied with looking down at the maps in their hands, while the rest were looking around animatedly, pointing things out to each other. Every so often, they would catch sight of the quartet of heroes, but, before they could look again, they would be gone into the crowd.

The dark blue hedgehog found the whole thing slightly creepy. There were tourists walking around _dressed up as him_, for Chaos sake. Granted, most of them were awful costumes. Some of them had blue arms, or orange shoes, quills going straight down the back, or dark eyes when he was obviously supposed to be fifteen or older. The Tails costumes were even worse, some a dark brown or burnt orange color, the colors on the shoes being flipped, or the wrong number of tufts of fur on his face. He shuddered once, turning away and herding the three smaller Mobians toward the furthest end of the entrance, away from most of the crazies.

In front of them, lines of people stretched all the way to the fence fifty yards away, moving only miniscule inches at a time. The gates of the park were simple enough, with small turnstiles attached to places to swipe admission cards. They currently didn't have one of those cards, but they hoped to Chaos that one look at them would get them through the gates. If not, then it wouldn't be that hard to jump the fence… Quickly, the younger hedgehog cut a look toward his older self, as if he could read his mind, and shook his head. The elder scowled in return.

Past the turnstiles, the path into the park was split in two by a large statue. Sonic's likeness stood there in full stone glory, a gloved hand resting on the head of a young-looking sculpture of Tails himself. The rock Tails was sitting on the ground, his two tails curling around either of his legs, with his hands resting in his lap and a large smile on his face. Knuckles stood behind both of them, a thick hand placed on Sonic's shoulder and a serious look coloring his expression. The people slowly streaming in slowed the process by halting and taking the time to take pictures in front of the statue, showcasing their visit.

They actually got in with no problems. The teenaged kid running the turnstile they were in line for took one look at them and glanced back before waving them through, telling them to "Please have a nice day, Mister Hedgehog." Small Tails squealed and darted _under_ the turnstile in his haste to get in, causing his older brother to hop over the arm to keep up with him in the crowded space. The elder two incarnations simply smiled apologetically to the teen and he rolled his eyes playfully before gesturing for them to go in.

Once inside, they caught up to the Littles right in front of the statue, where Tiny Tails was staring wide eyed at his stone likeness. Sonic was trying his best to lecture him, but most of his words weren't penetrating the fog of awe the fox had been cloaked in.

"- don't run off like that again, you hear me Tails? This place is crowded and – Hello? Tails? Are you listening to me?"

The elder hedgehog clapped a hand on his younger self's shoulder, making him jump. "Forget it. He's gone."

A long sigh.

Meanwhile, the older of the two foxes had slid up next to his younger self. "Pretty cool, huh T2?" He asked, his familiar voice breaking through to the kit.

"Way past." He breathed, reaching out as if to touch the stone effigy. "It looks just like me – _us_…" He corrected, finally looking up at the thirteen-year-old sitting next to him. "Isn't it amazing?"

The teen was going to reply, but a loud squeal cut him off.

"Ohmigosh!" A human voice yelled out in English. "What cute costumes!" It was a girl, dressed suspiciously like Amy, pink hair and all. She darted up to the foxes, bending low at the waist so she could look them in the eye. Tails scowled. "You look exactly like Tails!" She moved as if to touch the smaller kit, but a stony, blue and tan wall of muscle suddenly appeared between the two, blocking her reach.

"No." The ten-year-old voice was low as its owner glared at the girl.

"I just want to see what kind of fabric you used to create such realistic looking fur!"

"It's kinda… built in." He answered coldly, reaching behind himself and pushing the fox away.

"Built in to what?"

"His skin." The look he leveled over the top of his sunglasses was dark and stormy, the flint in his eyes back. Her face fell into a flabbergasted expression at his words and he could practically see the wheels turning as she computed his implication.

"Wait… You're…" She trailed off, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Leaving." He answered flatly, turning on his heel and disappearing into the crowd.

"Nice job, lil'me." The taller hedgehog commented as the smaller stomped up. "Way to keep up the good public image."

"Bite me." The younger mumbled, grabbing his little brother by the hand and leading the child up the path, plowing through tourists like a bowling ball.

"You were so cheery…" Tails chuckled, sarcasm layering his voice. "What happened?"

Sonic simply shrugged, not sure how to answer.

o0o

Half an hour later found the group of four huddled around a map, completely lost. The park was massive, with seven with different lands making up the whole thing. It had taken them a whole thirty minutes of backtracking and breadcrumb following for them to find their way through the first one in the park, cleverly called Greenhill_. _

"If we go that way," thirteen-year-old Tails said, pointing to the left, "we'd be heading towards 'EZ Cruisin'', the kiddy section of the park. If we go to the right, we'd be going to 'Need for Speed.'"

"Clever names." Mini-Sonic remarked, face blank. The rest of the group ignored him.

"Straight ahead is 'Isolated Isle', which it says is supposed to 'recreate the supernatural beauty of Angel Island'." He paused. "How do they even know _what_ to recreate?"

Instead of answering, the elder of the two hedgehogs asked, "Which area has the most thrill rides?"

"Uh…" Tails glanced over the map. "The left half has more, but they're spread out. Over here," he pointed, "in Need for Speed, there're two: Night of the Werehog and Sonic Spinball. There's also Blazing Tornado, which is one of those sit down and spin things."

Sonic nodded. "What else?"

"Greenhill has a simulator ride called Little Planet, and a ride called The Sonic Story, which is, and I quote, a slow-moving journey through Sonic's beginning. There's also a gift shop and a museum with lifelike animatronics of Sonic and his friends!" His voice rose at the end of his statement, signaling that he was reading word for word from the map.

"EZ Cruisin'," Little Sonic took up the narrative, as he had been gazing at the side of the map for a bit, trying to decide if he wanted to take his four-year-old little brother over there, "has the Flyin' Carpets of the Arabian Nights, which lets you control how high they can go, Way Cool Rocket, which is a shooter thing – you get in and shoot at badniks –, and Tails Adventure, which is a kiddy coaster."

"Connected to EZ Cruizin' is Synergy Plaza," Tails began again. "It has a dual tracked swing coaster called True Story. It's supposed to depict a fight or race between you and Shadow. There's also Gameworld Arcade and a show called King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table."

"Next to that is Eggmanland…" Tails trailed off, his brow furrowing.

"Wait… Did you see say Eggmanland?" The elder hedgehog asked, placing a hand over the map. "Are you kidding?" A snort escaped his nose. "Do they _enjoy_ encouraging him?"

Tails shrugged. "Depends. Eggmanland has a ride called Asteroid Coaster, a restaurant called ARK, and a museum dedicated solely to badniks."

Three blank looks.

"There's also a ride called Mass Chaos."

"Oh!" Sonic exclaimed. "What's that?"

"It's…" The fox trailed off as he read the description of the ride. "A water ride."

"Oh." Sonic said again, this time dejectedly. "Makes sense…"

"In the middle of the park is Isolated Isle, which has Angle Island Plunge, a three hundred foot freefall, and Tikal's Peaceful Pond, which is a kiddy boat ride."

"Is there anything else on the map?" Tiny Tails asked, trying to peer at the unfolded piece of glossy paper.

"Just a water park section called Living Labyrinth."

"Well," the elder hedgehog stood fully, his back popping, "let's head through the center so we can get a good feel for this place."

"Okay." The other three answered turning to follow him.

He was only able to take about four steps before someone slammed into him in the side. Sonic, who had been bumped into and jostled more times than he could count in the past hour, whipped around, his last nerve spent.

"Hey, watch it, dude!" He yelled, his voice a touch too aggressive.

The other person suddenly jerked around, swinging a gloved fist and yelling, "You watch it, _bud_." The punch hit Sonic in the nose, sending him stumbling sideways to the ground. However, before he landed, Sonic kicked his feet up, making sure to clip his assailant on the cheek. The kick was more forceful than he intended as the other went down as well.

Both laid there for about two point three seconds before jumping to their feet simultaneously. They eyed each other for another few seconds before both yelled at the same time:

"Sonic!"

"Knuckles!"

Both adult males laughed and high fived, ignoring the mixed looks of bemusement and confusion they were receiving from the three past incarnations (Mini-Knuckles having joined the others) and the elder fox.

"What're you doing here, red?"

"Probably the same thing as you, blue. Had to see if this crap was for real."

"How'd you hear about it, Knuckles?" The elder of the two foxes asked.

"We got an invitation." The taller echidna replied, shrugging. The flat look he received from the majority of group was synchronized and almost flawless. "What?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Nothing." Sonic replied, throwing his arm over Knuckles' shoulder. "What say you and me ride the Angel Island Plunge together?" He whispered conspiratorially into the echidna's ear. "First one to scream loses."

"Loses what?"

"You name it."

Knuckles' face fell into an evil look. "If you lose…" He trailed off threateningly. "You have to take T2 on Mass Chaos."

Sonic's face went pale, so pale that he looked like the sky above them. His face fell into a shocked expression. "_No_." He whispered dramatically. "That's a _water_ ride."

"Yup." Knuckles replied. "And you get _soaked_."

"_Yay_!" Mini-Tails chose that moment to express his extreme delight at getting his awesome older-big brother as a riding partner. Plus, no one else really wanted to ride it with him, as both hedgehogs avoided water, the Knuckleses just thought it was stupid, and his older self didn't feel like getting wet.

"Fine." Sonic sniffed. "I won't be losing anyway. When you lose, you have to babysit T2, on Angel Island, outside, in the sun."

Knuckles scoffed. "Fine."

And, with that, they clasped hands and shook, sealing the deal.

The Angel Island Plunge consisted of a giant pillar straight up in the air, and a set of about a dozen seats wrapped around. On the top sat a replica of the Master Emerald, with what looked like an animatronic of Eggman in his Egg-O-Matic holding on to it. The seats – which were cleverly decorated to look like part of Angel Island – would drop when the Eggman robot lifted the Master Emerald from its perch at the top.

Knuckles stood at the base, neck craned all the way back to see to the top. "Hm. Three hundred feet seems halfway to heaven when you stand at look up at it."

"You scared, Knux?" Sonic asked cockily, coming to stand beside his friend.

"Nah." The echidna replied. "I live on the actual Angel Island, I'm pretty sure I can take a little dive. What about you?"

"You kiddin'? Eggman drops me out of stuff from _space_."

"Well, let's get this over with. I'll even buy you a towel when you lose."

"Haha." Sonic said without feeling. "And I'll make sure to pack T2 full of sugar before I drop him off."

"_Yay_!" Came the inevitable response from Tiny Tails.

o0o

In the next fifteen minutes, Sonic and Knuckles managed to ride the ride three times, neither making so much as a squeak. The others had disappeared after the second ride, deciding to check out the rest of the park for themselves, since Sonic and Knuckles were too far gone in their bet to notice their absence anyway. The two adult males glared at each other every time they got off, daring the other to make a sound. It became unspoken that they would keep getting on the ride until one of them caved, either from boredom or motion sickness.

After about thirty minutes of riding The Angel Island Plunge, the staff became aware of who they were, and, after hearing of their bet, gave both of them permission to just stay on the ride and not have to get off. Knuckles had looked a little queasy at the idea, but Sonic had seemed excited, so he had had to swallow his inhibitions and nod his assent.

The constant up and down of the ride was jarring something inside of Knuckles, causing him to literally hold himself back from giving up every time they returned to Mobius. He honestly didn't know how much longer he could make it.

However, about two hours later, he was still hanging on… barely. Sonic hadn't looked at him for the past thirty minutes, and had instead chosen to stare at the ground like a lost puppy might a bone. Knuckles got the feeling that Sonic was getting a little sick himself, simply from the up and down jarring.

After what felt like their fiftieth time, the ride set back on the bottom and the other riders around them jumped off, some happy to get free while others were saying they were going to go again. Once they were clear, new people walked onto the platform, some yelling things like "I wanna sit by Sonic!" or "Oh, man, Knuckles is here!"

"Hey Sonic, Knuckles!" Tails' teenaged voice called from outside of the fence. Knuckles turned his head slightly to see him and quirked an eyebrow. All four of them were wearing some type strange hat, with little Knuckles carrying a pennant flag on a pole. Tails smiled cheekily at his older brother and Knuckles, leaning his head into his palm, the blue quills of his hat bending. Little Sonic had an identical hat while the other kit had on an orange hat with fox ears and small tufts of fur included on it. "You like my hat, Sonic?" The thirteen-year-old continued when he noticed that Sonic had gotten a good look at them all. He nodded slightly, not wanting to jar his head too much. "Good, because I got yo

u a Tails one!" He waved said headwear over the side of the fence. Sonic groaned slightly and slowly gave his little brother a thumbs up, for lack of better reaction.

Tails was going to say something more, but, suddenly, the ride was moving upwards again, taking Sonic and Knuckles with it. Both groaned together.

Approximately two minutes and five drops later, they were back where they started.

"Okay." Sonic coughed, waving his hand at a worker. "I'm done. You win."

Knuckles, instead of reveling in his victory, leaned his head back and let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Chaos."

Quickly, they were unstrapped and both literally staggered to the exit, leaning on each other for support. Once outside the gates, Sonic collapsed on top of Tails and the smaller version of himself, almost taking all three of them to the ground. "Can we go home now?"

"Not yet." Knuckles answered quickly, smirking, already over his spell of motion sickness. "Mass Chaos here you come."

"Fine." Sonic agreed whole-heartedly. "Anything's better than the monstrosity that we just got off of."

"Yay!" Little Tails yelled from underneath Sonic's body mass.

"The meaning of life is that it stops." Sonic mumbled under his breath. "And I wish my head would stop spinning."

"What?" Tails asked.

"Which way to hell?" Sonic replied.

"A general that way direction." Tails replied, pointing somewhere off to the left.

"Take me away, ferryman."

Suddenly, a loud _crack_ filled the sky, sending little Tails rushing for his older brother's side (and dumping the elder hedgehog on the ground in the process) and the older canine jumping. Seconds later, small water droplets tinkled from the sky. The light drizzle only lasted about thirty seconds before the sky opened completely, drenching all six almost immediately.

"_Yes_!" A ten-year-old yelled out happily. "Sweet rain! Let's get outta here!"

"Thank Chaos…" The elder Sonic said at the same time, ignoring the fact that he was still getting wet.

"Don't think you haven't gotten out of our deal, hedgehog!" Knuckles yelled as they turned to walk away, following the general flow of the tourists toward the exit. "You _will_ ride that ride!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Sonic yelled back. "I'll remember to take the plunge!"

* * *

><p><em>Sudden ending of suddenness, because I'm tired, this is getting long, and I'm tired. Did I mention that I'm tired? Yes? Well, that's also why this probably has tons of typos. I haven't proofed it yet. I'll do it eventually.<br>_

_For those of you who are wondering how exactly Knuckles' side of the wager equals Sonic's in agonizing horribleness, it is a well known fact that he doesn't like direct sunlight. Plus, Mini-Tails is kinda hyper when he gets onto Angel Island, because he likes to "explore". _

_And, because I probably haven't made this obvious, Sonic and co. are speaking Mobian unless they're taking to a human (sans Eggman, who also speaks Mobian). I'm a weirdo that believes that the Mobians have a separate culture and language and stuff, so there you go._

_Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog and all other recognizable material belong to SEGA and its affiliates. However, The Sonic the Hedgehog Experience and all theory and concept that went into it belongs to me and Yami-sama42 (as she helped to design the park). Do not steal._

_Reviews are cherished._

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	34. I'm Not Unwell, I'm Freaking Dying!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"I'm not unwell, I'm freaking dying!"

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> The prompt actually has a very, very nasty word in it, but my moral values keep me from using it. So, I'm… _adjusting_ it to fit my needs. Don't mind me.

I would apologize for the gap between postings, but most of the rest of these are going to be incredibly spaced out like this so it would be a bit redundant. Hopefully, the monster lengths they're looking to be will make up for it.

Anyway, once again, intense sciency magical theory stuff ahead. Please be aware that most of this is concocted in my head and is, therefore, in no way canon. No stealing. (Once again, late night posting, so please ignore any typos. I tried to catch them all, but I'm exhausted.)

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><p>The Festival of Light Gaia, a giant party in Shamar, celebrated once a month on the full moon, was in full swing. The celebration was always a major deal, with special festival foods and games only being used or eaten during those nights. It was known worldwide and people traveled from places as far as Mazuri to attend the renowned festival. Shamar was generally packed and completely over-ridden with people wanted to experience a piece of culture that they never got the chance to see. Mobian hovercars were parked next to human cars amongst the dunes next to the city proper and the two different species coexisted in perfect harmony, simply happy to celebrate one of the many forces that kept the planet spinning.<p>

On the opposite side of the planet, in Holoska, a similar celebration occurred during every new moon, but in commemoration of Chaos. During the darkness of the new moon, the aurora was at its brightest, and it was common knowledge that this happened because the Chaos Energy in the air was at its strongest when the Dark Gaia influence was fighting for power in the gloom. However, this celebration was not a moment of joyous merriment. Instead, it was a night to be completely silent and reflect on life and its beauty. As one gazed at the brilliant dancing colors of the aurora, they were supposed to simply enjoy the feeling and appreciate the fact that they were alive.

However, there was once a year when the aurora appeared in the skies all over the planet. Science had been unable to explain it, and the Chaos Mythics had simply written it off as an expelling of energy. Chaos was a sentient force, they said, and it required exercise like everything else. The aurora was one of the many ways, and when the Energy built up too much, it was expelled throughout the whole planet.

This year, through a strange series of events that the occupants of the Workshop had missed because they were busy fighting off two genius maniacs bent on taking over the world, the aurora appeared on the same night as one of the Festivals of Light Gaia, and, this one just so happened to kick off the Feast of the Sun and Moon. Hallowmoon, as this feast was called, was a festival where the people of Shamar switch their daily life to nocturnal. This festival celebrated the moon and the morning sun, two very prominent forces on Mobius. Somehow, the Annual Aurora, Festival of Light Gaia, and Feast of the Sun and Moon all happened, or began, on the same night.

The coincidence of such an event was not lost on the human media, and they wasted no time splattering words like "apocalypse" and "pandemonium" and "end of all life as we know it" across the news stations, while the Mobian newscasters were reporting on "Angel Island's strange positioning in the sky this time of the year" or "Hill Top Zone is recovering amazingly well after Eggman's recent attack." The whole of the human population were buckling down for the worst, spurred on by their media. Well, almost the whole population.

In Shamar, they took every excuse they were given to throw a festival, and this one was one of the biggest in their history. Spanning from midnight to midnight, they pulled out all of the stops, even going so far as to make an offering of a variety of sweets to Light Gaia. Sonic was personally invited, through Professor Pickle, to attend, as he would help to keep the message of the celebration fresh in everyone's minds. After all, Chip had been with Sonic during those terrible few weeks of planet shaking and cracking, and he had been seen as a symbol of hope. The fact that he was also Chaos Touched helped with the Chaos angle of the festival and allowed them a bigger excuse to throw a party.

So, that was how Sonic ended up in Shamar at one o'clock in the morning, dragging an exhausted four-year-old, annoyed ten-year-old, and energized thirteen-year-old with him. He was forced to carry Tiny Tails as he was still half asleep from the plane ride over, while his other hand was firmly clamped around the fox's older self's bicep. The elder incarnate of the fox had a bad habit of wandering off when they were in very crowded places, and Shamar was especially packed today. No matter how he turned or dodged, the hedgehog was constantly bumping into people, hastily apologizing and silently praying to Chaos that no one managed to impale themselves on his quills. The ten-year-old version of the hedgehog was easily dancing around people without effort, avoiding all physical contact. When the green-eyed hero sent his dark-eyed younger self a suffering look, the smaller could only smirk back.

They were struggling their way toward Shamar University, at the back of the city, where Professor Pickle and Layla, his new assistant, were waiting to show them around. On a regular day, it would have taken Sonic about half of a minute at a slow jog to make it to the lab, but, today, it had taken them thirty minutes to get to the middle of the city, and Sonic was already going to be sporting bruises later from the sheer amount of elbows he had walked into. He was starting to get fed up, especially since his younger self felt the need to constantly dart in front of him and his two golden charges before rushing back and telling him to move faster. Couple that with the fact that Tails – the elder – was struggling against Sonic's hold because "_Look_! They have Chaos Drives for sale for two Mobiums!", and Sonic was reaching the end of his rope quicker than he could run.

So, when the next person ran straight into him, crushing the child clutched in his arms to his chest and forcing a squeak from his small lungs, Sonic couldn't help but snap at them. "Hey, watch it! Four-year-old here!" He gestured angrily toward the small fox, who was now wide awake and staring around confusedly.

The other person stammered out apologies, while Sonic glared them into submission. A few seconds later he was moving forward again and, a few seconds after that, he realized that something was off. Tiny Tails was squirming in his arms, looking for his older brother, and, when he spotted him, he struggled toward him, forcing the elder hedgehog to put him down. Now totally free of fox, he let out a sigh.

"Man, you were a handful when you were smaller, Tails." He said toward his blue-eyed charge, but received no response. One look to the side and he realized, with a sinking feeling of dread, that the thirteen-year-old was nowhere to be found. Sonic slapped himself on the forehead, cursing himself for not realizing that he had let go of Tails, and, after making sure the Littles were following him, set off toward the Chaos Drive booth, knowing that that was where Tails was heading.

Approximately forty-five seconds later, Sonic was dragging Tails through the crowd by the ear, ignoring his protests. Tails was trying his hardest to get away, all the while clutching the purple Chaos Drive in his arms closer to his chest.

"- were you thinking, running off like that? This place is packed. Besides, where did you _get_ two Mobiums?"

Tails tried to answer, he really did, but Sonic just yanked harder on his ear, making him cut off mid-word to groan.

"You really should have raised him better." Little Sonic chose that moment to sidle up next to his older self, grin plastered on his face. "He wouldn't run off if you had actually punished him."

"Oh yeah, Mr. Pushover. I'm supposed to take advice from you."

"Well, I am you and –"

"Just, _hush_. Let's go find the Professor."

"I think I saw him over by the Chaos Drive stand and –" Tails began.

"You shouldn't talk for the next fifteen minutes, Tails."

"Got it."

o0o

Almost ten minutes later, the quartet finally stumbled through the door to Professor Pickle's lab. Macro-Sonic practically shoved Tails through, sending him a silent glare when he turned to look up at Sonic with a wounded face. The Littles brought up the rear, Sonic with an amused smirk on his face and Tails giggling under his breath.

"Ah, Sonic!" The elderly man greeted, a warm smile on his face. "Come in! Come in! I trust your journey over was safe. Here, take a seat." He gestured toward two couches, set perpendicular to each other around a table. The blue hedgehog happily fell onto the one facing the door, pulling Tails down next to him so he could keep an eye on him. Little Sonic eased himself onto the other sofa, allowing his four-year-old brother to pull himself into his lap. "Here, Layla! Bring our guests some refreshments. What would you like? Water? Soft drink? Cookies and milk? Cucumber sandwiches?"

"Nah, Prof, we're good. Just happy to be out of the crowd." Sonic waved off the incoming Layla, a young woman dressed in traditional Shamaran clothing, and her tray of goodies. She smiled knowingly and turned on her heel to head back into the kitchen area of the lab.

"It _is_ teeming out there, isn't it? All this hype over a silly natural phenomenon." Professor Pickle shook his head as he crossed the room to his large bookcase. Once there, he gently opened an ornate box. "In any case, I've kept this safe, as you asked. I believe that today is the day you wear it once again." He held out a simple enough looking silver bracelet. The only adornment on it was a green bauble, about the size of a ping-pong ball.

"You think?" Sonic asked, accepting the bracelet in the cradle of his hands.

"It is The Festival of Light Gaia; Chip would want you to. Besides, the fact that the Annual Aurora is happening at the same time is merely a coincidence." He paused for a beat, eyes straying toward the Littles. "Though, the Gaia Manuscripts have foretold of a time when Chaos will intersect with Gaia in a way that Time will change forever…" He trailed off just as a loud crash sounded from the back of the lab and he ticked low in his throat. "Layla seems to have dropped something again. Let me go make sure it's not explosive like last time." He shuffled off without another word.

Mini-Sonic sent his older self a skeptical look. "Strange man, the professor. How did you meet him?"

"Through Tails. Don't know exactly where Tails dug him up though…"

"He helped me with my Gaia-Chaos Connectivity thesis," said two-tail interjected. "He is incredibly knowledgeable about the different Energies that flow through the planet. Some of the greatest Chaos Mythics come to him for advice."

The smaller hedgehog looked ready to reply, but Professor Pickle chose that moment to sweep back into the room, chattering away. "Well, now that you're all here, I suppose that we should get down to business." He strode to the middle of the room, where a stack of scrolls rested on the table. He eased one from the middle of the stack before opening it toward the group. Before he could speak, however, Tails interrupted.

"Business, Professor? I thought we were here to participate in the festival…"

"This is true, Tails. Nevertheless, there is something that I must speak with you four about before you leave me and disappear into the crowd." He gazed at each Mobian evenly, smiling slightly at Tiny Tails, simply because he was looking back at the old man with huge, shining eyes. "You see, the Gaia Manuscripts can be translated two different ways. It's quite extraordinary, when you realize it. Using an ancient human language, they can be read as the explanation for the cycles of Dark Gaia. However, if you use the Ancient Echidnian language of Knuckles' people, they tell a completely different story."

"According to this," he tapped the aged paper with a wrinkled finger, "there was a point in time when all living memory ceased to exist. Time seemingly stopped for about a minute and a half and every single person forgot their past. They could not remember how they had gotten where they were, who the past chief was, or even what they had had for their last meal. At that same moment, the chief's head Chaos Seer sensed a fluctuation in the Chaos Energy levels. They spiked in literal seconds, almost overwhelming the poor man, and the Energy became tangible for that small moment in time, or, rather, out of time, if the manuscripts are to be believed. Then, almost as soon as it began, it stopped. The only sign that anything strange had happened was the aurora, a ribbon across the sky."

Silence met his story as all present digested the tale. Eventually, the past version of Sonic looked up, gazing at the professor with an unwavering stare. "Okay, I get how this is a big deal and everything, but what does this have to do with us?"

"I had a chance to talk with Chip one night after you had collapsed on that very couch." Professor Pickle nodded solemnly toward the sofa the older incarnations were sitting on. Sonic's ears perked up at the mention of his friend. "He spoke of visions he was having throughout the day. He told me that even after the planet was restored and him back in the core, Dark Gaia would still be a danger to life as we know it. When I asked if he was going to try to destroy the world again, our friend simply shook his head and told me that Dark Gaia would have a hand in obliterating something even more precious: time itself."

"But, that doesn't even make sense!" The elder Sonic suddenly yelled out, jumping up from his seat. He began to pace as he spoke, unable to hold still. "How can Dark Gaia affect time?_!_ Eggman had to find some kind of alien lifeform and partially roboticize it to create holes. How can something that's supposedly sleeping even begin to touch the timeline?"

"You underestimate Dark Gaia's power. The constant struggle between Dark and Light Gaia is what keeps this planet's core spinning. If something were to tamper with the flow of time and halt that rotation, then time will cease to move. The past will be nonexistent and the future impossible."

"But –"

"I think I understand, Professor," Little Tails cut in, surprising all present. "The balance between Dark and Light is what is necessary to keep time moving, but if something were to get rid of one of the two, then the other wouldn't be able to keep the planet spinning."

"Exactly, Tails. I see that you are a genius even in your young age."

While the kit looked at the floor, embarrassed at the compliment, his older brother took over the questioning, since his future self seemed to be having trouble wrapping his mind around it. "I still don't see what we have to do with the flow of time. I mean, I get that we're out of our time period right now, but I don't understand how that affects everything. After all, Tikal just told me that –"

"Wait, did you just say Tikal?" The elder of the two foxes cut in, sharing an astounded look with the hedgehog sitting beside him. "As in, Tikal, the echidna attached to Chaos?"

"Well, she was an echidna. She only mentioned Chaos once."

"When – _how_ did she talk to you?" Tails demanded, dropping the Chaos Drive still clutched in his hands so he could gesture with his words.

"I was kinda knocked out." The young hedgehog rubbed a finger underneath his nose, not liking how unusual this whole conversation was. "She did most of the work. Though, the Emerald full of positive energy probably helped."

"What did she say?" Macro-Sonic insisted, staring straight into his younger self's dark eyes.

"She just told me that me and Tails needed to be back in our time by your twenty-first birthday. Or else 'everything will fall apart.'" Air quotes accompanied the end of that statement, signaling that he was quoting the girl directly.

Silence reigned for a beat before the elder Sonic demanded, "You didn't think it was a good idea to tell us this?"

"Well," a harsh tone matched the other's in response, "she also told me that we couldn't do anything until we had all seven Emeralds, and last time I checked, we only had three."

"Four." Big Tails corrected absently, picking his Chaos Drive off the ground. "Shadow's got one."

"Four then. We're still three short!"

"Well, we would'a tried harder to find them if I knew we were on a time crunch!" Sonic argued toward his younger self, towering over the shorter hedgehog.

"Oh, so you _were_ just being irresponsible and playing around instead of looking for the Emeralds! I thought it was all an act, ya'know, because I can't imagine myself stalling on anything!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, Little Blue, the Emeralds don't just come when you call them! You have to wait for them to show up!"

"Whatever… Could'a just checked the Special Zones."

"They don't go there anymore! They scatter all over the planet, sometimes disappearing completely for months!"

The younger was silent, unable to formulate an argument to that.

Silence fell once again, this time strained and tense. The elder hedgehog shoved a hand through his quills before returning to his seat, where Tails sent him a sympathetic look. The younger blue speedster fell back onto the couch as well, allowing his little brother to curl up in his lap.

"Did she tell you anything else?" The hush was broken by a thirteen-year-old voice and its owner stared at Little Sonic with huge eyes. "Tikal, I mean."

"Yeah, she said that when we had all seven Emeralds, we're supposed to go see the Master Emerald." Two nods. "And… she mentioned the next Emerald being right under my nose… Something about a haze…" He trailed off, wracking his memory.

"A haze, you say?" Professor Pickle darted upward in his seat.

"Yeah…"

"Recently, a sector of the city was sectioned off by G.U.N. because Eggman's robots had loosened some of the rocks in the area and it was too dangerous for people to live there, because of rockslides." He added, seeing confusion start to grow on Little Sonic's face. "They put up a security fence, completely blocking it off from public access, but I could see the glint of red from the inside, and my Chaos Energy scanner always pinged that direction…"

"You think it's a Chaos Emerald, Prof?"

"I'm almost certain it's an Emerald."

"Well, then, what're we waiting for? Let's go get it!" So saying, the elder hedgehog stood, slipping the bracelet onto his wrist as he went. "C'mon guys!"

"I would love to, older me, but…" He gestured down to his lap, where Tiny Tails was deep asleep. "Tails is kinda outta commission."

Sonic sighed. "Okay then. Professor Pickle, would you mind…?"

"Of course I will stay with the children." The man replied, eliciting a scowl out of Sonic's past self. "Go retrieve the Emerald. We will be here when you return."

"Back in a flash!"

o0o

The blocked off section of Shamar was adjacent to the university, but somehow deserted, despite its relatively central placement. At the end of one of the main paths, it should have been a hotspot for party goers, but the area of devoid of any type of sentient life. The only sound that permeated the area was the hum of the fence.

The "security fence," as the professor had said, turned out to be of the Mobian variety, despite the fact that G.U.N. was a human organization. The mentality behind using the Mobian version instead of the human chain-link version was in the design, as the Mobian fence was literally a giant, partially translucent wall. It was almost like a force field in design, as it appeared between four hovering balls at the touch of a button, and extended into the ground and high into the air, to keep every possible Mobian out, from fliers to diggers.

However, when Tails was around, such a barrier was no match for his screwdriver. Literal seconds after cracking open the casing of one of the generator balls, he had pulled a wire and the whole thing fizzled and died, allowing Sonic and Tails into a deathly silent area. The full moon was the only light source and Sonic was doubly glad to have Tails with him, as the fox had better night vision than he did and would be able to spot anything within seconds.

Of course, considering the fact that once they turned the corner into the abandoned region, the Chaos Emerald was glaringly obvious in the dark, Tails' night vision could have been considered overkill. The red Emerald was sitting inconspicuously – or as inconspicuously as a glowing, ruby gem could be in the deep dark of night – in the shallow, square pool of a fountain, the water still bubbling from the top despite the desertion plaguing the area.

"Well," Sonic said, sounding slightly unconvinced, "that was easy."

"Almost a little too easy." Tails shared the sentiment. "You think G.U.N. booby trapped it or something?"

"There's only one way to find out." Sonic declared, determined, reaching down and snatching the Emerald.

Usually, when Sonic grabbed an Emerald in his fist, he would get a sharp thrill of power through his whole arm. His veins would thrum at the taste of the energy, his blood wishing, _hoping_, for the Super transformation that made him feel alive in a way that nothing else could. This time, however, he picked up the Emerald with the same hand that Chip's green-gemmed bracelet/necklace was on, and, when the Emerald touched his palm, the energy arched through his palm, into his wrist, and then into the bracelet. The resulting super-charge of energy sent him sprawling backwards onto his backside with a groan. Luckily for him, he managed to keep a hold on the Emerald.

Tails raced after Sonic, sliding to his knees in the sand beside his big brother. "Sonic! Are you okay?"

The hedgehog sat up with a groan, rubbing his head with his free hand. "Ugh. Did the G.U.N. truck run me over?" He looked down at the Emerald clutched in his fist. "Well, that was unexpected."

"What happened?" Tails asked, helping Sonic stand.

"I'm not sure… It was like the Chaos Energy tried to get into my arm, but something stopped it…" He trailed off, staring straight at his newly acquired bracelet. "Hm…"

Tails cocked his head to the side, a questioning sound coming out of his mouth.

"Chip's either trying to tell me something… or something's very wrong."

They shared a look before jerking to look towards the opening of the quarantined area. Before their eyes, a blue-purple wall sprung up in the gap in the rock, and several dozen Dark Gaia minions materialized from nowhere.

Sonic sighed before taking a step toward the foes. Almost immediately, they simultaneously jerked and became aware of him. "Great… Just what I needed today."

"And just think!" Tails called cheerfully as he took to the air and Sonic catapulted himself at the first enemy, a giant purple, lizard-like creature called a Nightmare. "It's only two o'clock in the morning!"

o0o

_Five Minutes Beforehand…_

Little Sonic was not a happy camper. Never one for idle passiveness, having to sit on the couch with Tails sleeping on his lap while his older self was out in the town was frustrating to the young hedgehog. Of course, he loved his little brother, he really did, but sometimes he wished he didn't have to be constantly bending himself around the kit. Tails was a genius and the most adorable child Sonic had ever met, but the fact still remained that, sometimes, he was more of a hindrance than a help. Sure, he could fly and could think in a way that Sonic could only dream of thinking, but he was still only a child, a toddler really, and that held him back.

He sighed deeply, propping his elbow on the armrest of the couch and placing his chin in his palm. Tails stirred in his lap, as if sensing his discomfort, and picked his head up. He sleepily looked up at Sonic, blinking owlishly.

"Sonic?" He yawned. "Where'd everybody go?"

"To get a Chaos Emerald, bud." The hedgehog answered with a smile. "Why don't you go back to sleep?"

Tails shook his head, sitting up fully and removing himself from the hedgehog's person. "Can't. Where's the Emerald?"

The blue Mobian shrugged. "Somewhere in the city. Don't worry about it. They'll be back soon."

Tails looked up at his big brother cutely, head cocked slightly to the left and eyes huge. "What's the matter?"

Sonic sighed again, shaking his head. "Nothin'. What gave you that idea, big guy?"

"You're all tense, like a giant rubber band." The kit's voice was sweetly innocent, further making Sonic's hard exterior melt.

"I'm just worried that –" He broke off suddenly, doubling over with a groan. Without warning, a sharp stab of pain ripped through his belly, eliciting another moan from deep in his throat. An almost feral sound, it had Tails jumping to his feet and hovering uselessly around the hedgehog's now prone form. "Sonic? Sonic! What's the matter?"

Tails' screaming alerted Professor Pickle that something was amiss and he came stumbling into the room, Layla hot on his heels. Tails darted up to him faster than the human could track. Latching onto the human's hand, he yanked him toward his friend.

"Something's wrong with Sonic! Do something!"

The professor glanced toward the hedgehog, intelligence categorizing everything. "What happened? Is he unwell?"

"I'm not unwell, I'm freaking dying!" The words were shouted through a pain-filled daze, the horrendous feeling in his gut expanding to a crippling intensity. He fell to his knees, eyes squeezed shut and hands clawing at his chest in a vain attempt to ease his own suffering. A suffocating ball of agony formed in his bones and he cried out, his extremities burning with a white-hot anguish, the likes of which were completely foreign to his young body and nerves. Tails screamed his name in distress, reaching out for him before Professor Pickle physically removed him from the situation, handing him off to Layla.

Now alone, he fell into himself, a dark shroud of energy encompassing his entire being. It spread from his left wrist of all places and quickly infected the rest of his arm, from there moving to cover him completely. He felt like he was being stretched and remolded like some sort of sadistic putty made of hedgehog. His very soul burned with pain and he screamed again as he was assaulted with multiple strains of malevolent energy, dark and menacing. He silently begged for it to stop, for the suffering he felt to leave him alone, but to no avail. He didn't notice when his fur turned a darker, richer blue and his spikes grew longer and fuzzier. He became larger and more menacing, his shoes compensating for the change in a strange way; they formed soles with a firmer grip, small, dull cleats appearing on the bottom. He grew small claws, his hands and arms growing too large to be contained in his gloves. His peachy muzzle and body faded to a pale blue and his fur grew shaggier. His teeth became longer and sharper and his ears became larger.

He screamed again as the transformation finished and he felt his body go numb. He forced his eyes open, the dark orbs glimmering a dark green-purple color; he looked around in a daze before he collapsed into unconsciousness.

o0o

Back in the blocked off section of Shamar, Sonic was having a tough time with the Dark Gaia minions. Every time he homing attacked them, he simply bounced off, not doing any damage whatsoever, and, every time he tried and failed, another enemy popped up to join its brethren. Currently, the small area was crammed with enemies and Sonic barely had any room to move around. Above him, Tails was swooping around, trying to fight off the plethora of flying enemies attacking him from various angles.

"Sonic, it's not working!" Tails cried out as he avoided a strike from a Killer Bee – which looked more like a wasp than anything. He plunged down suddenly, making the Bee chase him and he headed directly toward a wall. "Try something else!"

Sonic sighed and avoided a swipe from a nearby Deep Nightmare. In the air, Tails pulled up centimeters from the wall, the toes of his sneakers barely skimming the rock. The Killer Bee, unable to correct its path in time, slammed into the wall, killing itself. It disappeared in a puff of black smoke and purple bubbles. With a scowl, Sonic rolled into a ball, annoyed but still following the fox's instructions, and revved three times before shooting forward in the perfect example of a spindash. He slammed into a relatively powerful Red Nightmare and was awarded with a customary crunching sound as his quills dug into the plasma-like skin of the minion.

However, almost as soon as the crunching started, he lost traction on the creature and spun completely off of its body, catapulting into a different enemy. This one – a small dog-like creature called a Rex – simply head-butted him when he got close and sent him careening in a different direction. He came to a stop seconds later, his head spinning from the jerking and he sighed as two new enemies materialized from nowhere.

"Didn't work!" Sonic replied as Tails kicked a Killer Bee away and into the same Red Nightmare Sonic had just attacked. They slammed together, and, in the resulting confusion, attacked each other, effectively killing the other. They both dissolved seconds later.

"What'd you do last time?" Tails asked as he engaged a Fright – a round bird-like creature.

"I… punched them." Sonic answered, hesitation making his tone weak.

"Then try that!" Tails replied, flying circles around the Fright.

Sonic sighed again and stared down at his gloved hand. Slowly, he curled it into a fist, looking at it with trepidation.

Sonic the Hedgehog was not known for his upper body strength, and he didn't have much to boast, if it ever came to light. In all truth, he could barely swing around a horizontal bar five times before his arms gave out and made him let go, and he never _ever_ punched things. His hand-to-hand combat always focused more on his feet, all kicks and spins, not so much upper-cuts and hits. In all actuality, he shied away vehemently from having to use his hands, because his arms were synonymous with noodles – limp and not very strong – and he knew that if he ever tried to throw a serious punch, he would pretty much be, for lack of a better term, screwed.

So, he approached a weak Nightmare with a strong sense of consternation. However, against his will screaming at him that this was a _bad idea_, he swung his gloved fist toward the creature.

The Nightmare, having spotted Sonic coming, swung around at the last second and grabbed hold of his hand. His punch was stopped in its tracks and the creature used his captured arm as a pivot point to flip the hedgehog onto his back. He went down with an _oof_ as all of the air left his lungs and he immediately curled into a ball to protect his soft belly from the multitude of Dark Gaia Minions now gathering around his cornered form.

Until that is, Tails dropped straight out of the sky and landed practically on top of the hedgehog. He whipped his tails around, sweeping a large amount of the enemies away with the sheer force of the swing. The rest caught the hint that this canine wasn't one to be messed with – especially since he had managed to take out almost all of their flying comrades single-handedly – and backed up considerably, giving Sonic and Tails breathing room.

The hedgehog accepted the fox's proffered hand to help him up and he wrapped his arms around his friend's small form seconds later. The enemies, seeing that the hedgehog was up, charged forward, but were unable to touch him, as he had jumped into the air, high above their heads.

"Got anymore bright ideas, Tails?" The hero asked as Tails started to hover, keeping the both of them in the air.

Tails' ear flicked a little at Sonic's condescending tone. "Did you see how I was running the flying ones into walls and each other?" He asked, waiting for Sonic's nod of consent. "You need to make them kill themselves or each other."

The hedgehog considered this for a few seconds, and Tails could practically see the wheels in his head turning before he nodded once more and let go, dropping back into the fray.

o0o

Back in the lab, all was silent. Layla and Tails were holed up in the kitchen, peaking around the corner with curious eyes, while the professor was inching toward the newly-transformed hedgehog. He slowly approached, making sure that the Mobian was fully unconscious before fully approaching. With a deftness that only came with practice, Professor Pickle checked for a pulse, shoving his fingers into the lush fur on Sonic's wrist. A few seconds later, he let out a breath of relief. "He's alive." He told the fox who was slowly creeping around the corner, against Layla's wishes. The small Mobian's ears had been flush with his skull out of fright, but at this news, they popped up a little, swiveling toward the elderly human.

"What's wrong with him, Professor?" The four-year-old asked, voice a higher pitch than normal. He was wringing his hands and his tails were lashing almost uncontrollably, stopping Layla from coming from behind and scooping him up.

"I'm not sure yet, Tails." The man answered, grabbing a small machine off of the table. It was yellow, no doubt designed by the fox's older self, with a small readout on the front and a flat bottom. Quickly, the human turned it on and it let out a soft _beep_ before he ran it over the hedgehog's body, wincing when it started rapidly beeping as soon as it passed over the blue one's left wrist. "There's a flux of Dark Gaia energy in his body, concentrated right here…" He tapped the hero's wrist. "It's strange though… There seems to be a large amount of Chaos in the same spot…"

"Do you think it has something to do with the Chaos stream?" Layla asked as she scooted into the room to kneel next to the couch. "I mean," she continued quickly when both of the genius males looked at her quizzically, "the other Sonic was going to get an Emerald, right? What if something happened with it and Dark Gaia energy somehow got attached to it?"

The professor hummed under his breath. "That would make sense in theory, I suppose…" He trailed off, glancing over at the hedgehog's prone form. "And, since Chaos Energy flows backwards as opposed to forwards, then whatever affected Energy the elder touched would eventually reach _this_ Sonic… Though, why it transformed him into a Werehog… I'm still at a loss…"

"Maybe it has to do with that bracelet you gave big Sonic, Professor?" Tails asked, cocking his head to the side as he reached out a hand and poked the side of Sonic's head. The hedgehog twitched a bit at the touch. "What exactly was it?"

"Something Light Gaia left behind for Sonic. They became close friends while they were working together to fix the planet, and, when all was said and done, Chip had to go back into the planet's core. He left that behind so Sonic could remember him." He paused, searching his memory. "I've run a few tests on it, and the bracelet seems to be made completely of energy. It may seem solid to the touch and sight, but, in all actuality, it doesn't technically even exist on this plane."

"What type of energy, Professor?"

The human _ticked_ under his breath. "That was the strange part. Considering that it was, in essence, part of Light Gaia, it should, in theory, be made up of Light Gaia Energy. However, there was a small lacing of Dark Gaia hidden amongst the Energy fibers. I assumed that for anything to exist in the form that it was, it had to have an even balance of both and the bracelet was no different, but now I'm not so sure…" Tails remained silent as the human thought over his findings, not noticing as the blue Mobian started to stir slightly. "I am honestly at a loss."

"Professor…" Layla started again. "What if the Emerald touched the bracelet when Sonic had it on? Would it be possible for the Dark Gaia Energy to hitch a ride on the Chaos as it traveled through the time stream?"

The man looked at Layla intently, processing her words. "Hm, an interesting concept. Plausible, but highly unlikely. The only way it would work would be if the two individuals were close enough in the time stream, like the two Sonics now, _and_, Dark Gaia was active in the ecosystem. But, since both he and Chip are supposed to be asleep in the planet's core…"

"But, if Dark Gaia _were_ active –" Layla was cut off as the hedgehog lying on the couch sat up suddenly.

Sonic was not one to panic. Known worldwide for his level head and encouraging demeanor, he generally lived by a 'if it's worth worrying over, then it's probably hopeless' philosophy. So, when he woke up and he could not feel neither his feet nor his hands, and there were mumbling voices above him, he immediately assumed the worst.

In an attempt to get away from his assumed-attackers, he sat up so quickly, he sent the small weight sitting on his belly falling to the ground. It yelped when it hit, a familiar sound that had the hedgehog pausing for a second, but his vision was blurry and he couldn't exactly see anything in full detail. So, instead of dwelling on it, he instead rolled off the couch and onto the floor. The room was spinning now, so completely foreign to his large eyes that he just chose a random direction and bolted. Luckily for him, the door was included in that path. He skittered through the semi-open portal and down the stairs, straight into the public crowd.

"Sonic!" Tails cried as he felt himself get picked off the ground by Professor Pickle. Neither the professor nor Layla had done anything to stop the transformed hedgehog, only stared in shock as he rushed off. "Come back!"

He squirmed like he wanted to chase after his big brother, but the professor had a gentle yet firm hold on him. All three could only watch as the door swung closed of its own accord.

Somewhere in the dark of the lab, the clock struck three.

o0o

"What a mess." A female voice mumbled to the one floating beside her, shaking her head. "Is all of this really necessary?"

Her companion crossed its small, burgundy arms over its equally minuscule white chest. "In my opinion, no, but you know how they get." The tiny being jerked its head toward something behind the two, its overly-large ears flopping slightly at the sharp movement.

These two beings, one a female echidna looking creature, and the other some type of flying dog/gerbil life form, were not something that were common occurrence on Mobius. One a part of a nearly extinct species and the other something out of legend, they were the very embodiments of gods, or, in the echidna's case, as close as a mortal could get to a god. Currently, they were looking down on the events transpiring in Shamar from a small pocket dimension, suspended just at the bottom of the cloud line. To any casual viewer, there was a small haze to the sky in that specific spot, nothing more than a trick of the starlight.

The female sighed, falling to sit on the invisible, slightly-nonexistent ground. With visible effort, she dropped her head into the palm of her hand, lolling her head to the side out of obvious exhaustion. Her companion drooped as well, practically falling into her lap.

"Oh Chip." She sighed, rubbing him on the back. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing, Tikal?" The small being replied, yawning deeply.

"I'm the one that called both you and Dark Gaia out of your sleep. It is my fault that you're so exhausted."

Chip yawned again, struggling to sit up. "Don't say that. I was called here when the time stream started to slow down. It's just a coincidence that you were on your way to wake me when the imbalance chose to beat you to it… I just wish they had left Mister Angry-When-Awakened out of this."

Behind them, Chaos _roared_, shaking the small dimension. Dark Gaia returned the snarl and lunged at the other god, nearly knocking the water being back. Chaos retaliated with a blast of Chaos Energy to the other's face, sending them careening apart. Seconds later, they pounced toward each other again, starting the dance over.

The two lighter beings sighed, sharing a look between them.

"I do not understand why they have to fight…" Tikal mumbled, stroking Chip's belly in a way that made the miniature god practically purr, his eyes drooping out of contentment. "They are equal in power and they both had a hand in the formation of the planet. Why must they constantly struggle for dominance?"

Light Gaia shook his head, forcing himself out of the comfortable fog he had fallen into. "You were not present during the planet's beginning. Back then, there were two very different dark forces," he nodded toward the still battling, oversized gods, "and only one light." He gestured toward himself. "I was stretched too thin trying to balance them both as the primordial Mobius seethed and churned without our influence. Back then, they were both looking for the equilibrium, the thing that would enable them to stabilize their abilities and allow them to inject the planet with their respective energies. So, instead of allowing me to see to them both like I had been doing, they started to fight amongst themselves. They crashed into the planet, creating deep wells and upsetting some of the formative lava and nutrients. I was at a loss as to what to do, so I simply watched and tried to repair the cracks before they dried completely."

Tikal listened with rapt attention. The formation of the planet was a mystery, even to the advanced Chaos Mythics of the present day. Back when she had lived, her father's Chaos Seer had been the closest thing to the formative energies and even he barely understood how they worked. The fact that she was hearing firsthand from a being that had been there and _active_ was astounding.

Chip's eyes were somewhere far away, remembering things that had happened thousands of lifetimes ago. "Somehow, through this fighting action, they released energy in giant bursts, straight into the planet. They ignited the core, enticed it into spinning without meaning to. The magnetic field lifted, expanding outward from the once-stationary nucleus like an electron cloud. Once the magnetic field was raised, the atmosphere formed, allowing for the filtering of the harmful gasses and rays from the nearby star. Against our wishes, the planet started forming without proper balance; the Chaos and Gaia were unequal, causing giant peaks, such as Mount Mobius, to spring up practically overnight. I was sent scrambling, trying to slow the beginning organic processes, but Chaos and Dark Gaia continued to fight regardless of my warnings and pleas for help. Slow but surely, they wore each other down, but, all ready, the smallest of organisms had all ready begun shaping. Petite prokaryotes that thrived in lava were dominating the volcanic surface, feeding on each other and existing against our wishes."

"Eventually, I had to put a stop to the fighting and get the others back on track. So, in one of the short down periods when they had called a small ceasefire, I convinced Dark Gaia to come see the core and make sure that the molten material was formed completely. He agreed, because, even though they had been fighting, both of the darker forces were still in charge of the planet's makeup and were to make sure that it was done correctly. Once down in the core, I sealed up the rift, locking the two of us inside." Here, Chip paused to grimace, face twisting at the thought. "Dark Gaia was, understandably, upset, but he was unable to get back to the surface because I had sealed the fissures with my own type of energy. And, because it was the total opposite of his own, he could not break the seal himself." He sighed.

"After a few millennia he got over it and decided to listen to me. I told him that if he wanted to be a part of the planet's formation, he would have to infuse his energy into the core and outer walls soon. All ready, Chaos had spread its own influence across the planet, filling in the chasms created by its fight with Dark Gaia with water, creating oceans and lakes. Easily, it dropped all of its extra energy into the eight stones known as the Master and Chaos Emeralds and disappeared into the unknown. I, too, had all ready begun my influence on the formation, peppering the landscape with multitudes of plants and outlining the formation of the sun-kissed beaches amongst other trivial things. Dark Gaia, to his credit, worked quickly, creating dark jungles, caves, and, in a fit of rage, he even shoved shoots of lava up toward the surface, forming the very first of the volcanoes. Together, we created the concepts of night and day."

He paused, sighing deeply. "After that, we fell asleep and weren't awakened until a few millions later. Dark Gaia was still angry with Chaos at the time and he took it out on the planet, completely destroying everything. I was forced to clean up his mess before dragging him back down. We slumbered once again, but were prodded alive again when Dr. Eggman forced us out when he broke the planet into pieces." He smiled then, shaking his head. "Honestly, I wasn't sure I was going to see this time period again, once we stopped Dark Gaia again, so I suppose I should be thankful to you for coming to get us. I quite like the planet as it is."

Tikal, slightly overwhelmed with the tale she had just listened to, nodded slowly. "Well, you're welcome Chip. I, for one, am happy to have finally met you. Chaos has spoken highly of you."

Chip's smile grew and he made a happy sound before turning back to the scene in front of them when surprised noises erupted from the surface. Down below, Mini-Sonic was just breaking free of the professor's lab. He skidded into the town on all fours, rushing around like a dog and struggling to gain traction on the stone. The people inhabiting the town gasped when he barreled past them, but made no move to halt his movement, though they were glancing at each other in a way that promised intervention soon enough.

Chip sighed, leaning over Tikal's lap to get a better look at the surface goings-ons. "I should probably get down there and help."

The echidna sighed, but nodded. "Yes. The bracelet should guide you. I'll try to keep the Massives from destroying too much."

Chip nodded once back before floating so he was eyelevel with the girl. They shared eye contact for a few moments before he faded from view, disappearing in seconds.

o0o

Back with the elder incarnations of the hedgehog and fox, Sonic had just disposed of the last two Dark Gaia minions. They fizzled out of the living world with the customary black smoke and the dark blue Mobian heaved a sigh of relief. He clapped his hands together, dusting invisible dirt from his gloves as Tails landed next to him, panting slightly. "Well, that's it. The barrier should disappear any second now."

Both turned to the blue and purple wall with an air of expectation. They stood in silent anticipation for a few seconds before Tails heaved a half-sigh-half-groan and rolled his eyes when nothing happened. Quickly, he stalked his way to the translucent barricade and he stared at it with one hand cupping his chin, expression lost in his thoughts.

"What's up, buddy?" Sonic asked, his quills raised slightly, as if expecting another attack of some kind.

The fox hummed thoughtfully under his breath before reaching forward and tapping the swirling mass of amethyst and cobalt with his knuckles. At his touch, small sparkles erupted from the barrier, turning the dark canvas of night into a brilliant lightshow for half of a second. The flare of light dimmed a few moments later and Tails reached a hand out to grab the wannabe pixie dust.

"What is it?" Sonic asked as he looked over Tails' shoulder at the dust-like glitter.

"I'm not sure…" Tails answered, bringing his hand up to sniff the strange substance. "It looks like Chaos Energy... But it acts like Dark Gaia Energy… The only other time I've seen this was –"

His statement was cut off as a scream from the other side of the wall erupted in the calm silence. Both glanced up and at each other before stumbling so they were pressed against the wall, their hands cupped around their eyes to help them see through the whorls of color. Somehow, the Chaos Emerald – which had previously been stashed in Sonic's quills – appeared in Sonic's hand without him noticing before he placed them to his face.

They watched, with two different expressions of shock and dread as a _werehog_ stumbled down the road toward their impromptu prison, seemingly not paying attention to where it was going. Behind it, a small group of people were pursing it at a sedate pace. They didn't seem menacing, more inquisitive at the strange being's presence. They were yelling things like "Sonic, wait!", "What's going on?", and "I thought you were better!" To the werehog's credit, it did not seem provoked or hostile toward their advances; more scared than anything.

It catapulted himself down the road, moving quickly. Luckily for it, when it was a few feet from the solid Dark Gaia wall, Sonic chose to yell a loud "Watch out!" toward it in his 'commanding voice' and it glanced up just in time to catch sight of their wide-eyed faces. It skittered, trying to stop, and succeeded to turning itself sideways; but, not soon enough, because it slammed into the wall, letting out a startled yelp as all of the air was forced out of its lungs.

Both hedgehog and fox fell to their knees so they were eye level with the crouching figure, both murmuring words of encouragement to the coughing half-hedgehog creature. Sonic stood once it seemed to have recovered and glared at the steadily growing crowd.

"Stay back!" He commanded, throwing his arm toward the wall for emphasis. The Chaos Emerald flashed dangerously, adding to the effect. The group of people – both humans and Mobians alike, Sonic noted – looked confused at the hedgehog's appearance, trying and failing to connect the dots between the full hedgehog, half-wolf, and weird purple and blue wall between them. "Go back to your party!" He yelled again, pointing back toward the festivities, where flashing strobe lights could be seen over the top of the buildings. A few of the Mobians obeyed him without question, while some of the humans grumbled but followed. The rest simply stared back at him, challenging him to continue delivering orders.

"Sonic." Tails breathed, hands pressed flush against the barrier right next to the werehog's head, his blue eyes searching the other's figure. The small transformed creature simply stared back with huge, confused eyes. "I think this is the other you."

Sonic sent one last heated glare at the remaining mob, _daring_ them to move closer, before dropping down beside his little brother and running critical eyes over the dark blue form. "_Little Blue_?" He asked, incredulous.

A small whimper escaped the werehog, confirmation ringing true.

"What _happened_?" Sonic demanded, eyes flashing dangerously in the half-light.

The werehog shrugged, his eyes just as confused as their own.

"What's wrong Sonic?" Tails asked the small transformed hedgehog. "Can't you speak?"

The being on the other side of the wall shook his head before opening his mouth like he was going to say something. However, instead of words, a high pitched yapping sound met their ears.

The elder hedgehog and Tails shared a look of exasperation.

"What's going on here, Tails?" Sonic insisted, a slightly panicked edge to his voice.

"It's like… he's a…" Tails cringed as the next word escaped his mouth, "puppy."

"A werepuppy, Tails? A puppy! Seriously?" Sonic grabbed at his head, ignoring how his outburst seemed to worry the crowd a bit. "_How did this happen_?"

Tails cocked his head to the side, grabbing Sonic's wrist without warning and holding the bracelet's green stone up to his face to get a better look. "Hm." He tapped the bauble, smiling slightly when a small green sparkle – almost identical to the ones that escaped from the wall – was thrown into the air. "Looks like when you grabbed onto the Emerald, the Dark Gaia that was still in your body hitched a ride with the Chaos Energy and went straight into your younger self. The bracelet allowed the Energies to fuse together long enough to get back to him… Quite a phenomenon…"

"Yeah, that's great Tails. Strange and all that. But, how do we _change him back_?_!_" Sonic demanded, jabbing a finger into the wall right above his younger self's furry head.

"I'd be able to give you a more positive answer if I had a Chaos scanner, but I'd say that, since the Dark Gaia Energy in your body was minimal, the transformation's not permanent. The light of the sun should clear it up."

"And then what? He'll just turn back when it gets dark again."

"Nope." Tails answered, shaking his head. "He'll be clear; like I said, the Energy was minimal."

Suddenly, the werehog puppy whipped to his feet, nose pointed toward the horizon and whole body tense and ready for a fight. His fur standing at the ready, it made him look like a giant puffball and his eyes were scanning slowly back and forth.

"What'd you hear, Lil' Me?" Sonic asked with concern, trying to see what the werehog saw. Tails too was scanning the area, but with no luck.

Little Sonic took the time to send his older self a pointed glare, sniffing experimentally before turning around again.

Then, with only the warning of the werehog, Dark Gaia Minions appeared in their customary puffs of smoke. The crowd of people instantaneously reacted and pandemonium set in seconds later, accompanied by high pitched screams and the sound of feet hitting the ground as they rushed away. However, three Nightmares materialized in the direction of escape and blocked off the street, capturing the people in the small space.

Immediately, the past version of Sonic – now upgraded with werehog abilities – tackled the closest Nightmare, sending the both of them careening to the ground. The small hedgehog-turned-werewolf tumbled along the ground with the enemy, but did no damage to it, because he couldn't curl into a ball like he was used to. His arms were too long and wide for him to feasibly do a spindash and he couldn't jump and hit it with the way he was rolling along the ground. The Nightmare wasted no time in the lull of activity to attempt to punch the werehog in the nose. However, Sonic's high-speed brain saw the attack coming and he managed to get his arms up in time to block the hit.

The Nightmare was slightly shocked at the counter and it jumped away like it had been struck itself, giving Sonic time to breath and get his bearings.

"– swing your arms and _punch_ them, Little Blue!" Sonic suddenly became aware that his older self was yelling at him, throwing his arms around to emphasize his advice. "You have to hit them to kill them! These aren't badniks!"

The werehog stared down at his overly large hands, eying the claws now adorning his fingertips. Slowly, he clenched them into fists, looking up and targeting the closest Dark Gaia enemy.

The elder of the two hedgehogs flinched as a Red Nightmare went down in one hit. Next to him, Tails whistled out of appreciation.

"Well, looks like he's got this handled." The fox commented, hands once again cupped around his eyes to help him get a better view.

The dark blue Mobian nodded once before following suit, flinching slightly when one of his younger self's attacks came a little too close for comfort to a young child.

"We need to get out of here and get the people out of the way." He commented, tapping at the wall. It sparkled again. "Little Me can't avoid all of them _and_ fight the Dark Gaia enemies."

Tails _ticked_ under his breath as he thought. "The only way to take this wall down is to overload it with Chaos Energy. Since it's made of Negative Energy, Positive or Neutral would probably be best."

"Where's we supposed to get a bunch of Energy?_!_" He demanded, waving his arms around. Tails' face went flat as a flash of red light nearly blinded him. "In case you haven't noticed, we're _trapped_ in an _abandoned_ part of the city!"

Tails simply sighed in the nature of a tortured soul. Without saying a word, he stomped up the hedgehog, grabbed his wrist, and slammed the hand holding the Chaos Emerald, tip side down, against the wall. "A bunch of Energy." He said obviously, tapping the Emerald.

"Oh… Right." Sonic mumbled as the purple and blue wall wavered and flickered from existence.

The two Mobians jumped straight into the battle, but, instead of attacking, they instead focused on the people who were blocked into the area. Using the teamwork they were known worldwide for, they escorted the remaining people from the space, with Sonic grabbing and towing them past the most condensed area of the fighting and handing them off to Tails, where the fox flew them over the Nightmare blockade and a ways down the street. For some reason, the Dark Gaia minions did nothing to attack the newly liberated people, like they were confined to that specific area and some type of force was keeping them from moving from their spots.

Meanwhile, the Mini-Sonic werehog puppy was mowing down enemies with diligence. With well timed punches, slashes, and kicks he sent the creatures stumbling back to where they had come from. Practically fighting with blinders on, he attacked anything that moved that was in front of him. This was a cause for concern as a smarter Rex, small in comparison to the Nightmares, suddenly lunged from the left and managed to catch the werehog's leg in its jaws.

Mini-Sonic jerked, nearly falling over as the creature's small teeth dug into the delicate muscle of his limb. Being a runner from birth, his legs were his first priority, and, when attacked, he generally kicked out with all of the force those quick appendages had in them. However, because of this new form, he was forced to rethink that action, because his legs weren't nearly as strong as before. With a grunt, he swung a huge fist down with enough force to cause a mini-earthquake and squashed the dog-like creature. It squealed before disappearing.

Now liberated, he placed his foot back on the ground, and hissed when his leg nearly collapsed under him. His leg was bleeding slightly, with huge bite marks marring the dark blue fur. Somehow, the Rex had managed to drag its teeth straight down his leg, digging into the skin and marring much of the muscle. He would be lucky if his leg held his weight, let alone let him walk. Add that to the fact that his heart was pumping quickly as adrenaline flooded his system and blood was gushing from the wound at quick rate added insult to injury and he could already feel himself getting lightheaded from blood loss.

He managed to avoid a surprise punch from a Dark Nightmare by rolling, but was not as lucky when a Killer Bee lunged and stung him in the middle of his chest. He grunted, curling in on himself as his instincts kicked in.

Meanwhile, the elder hedgehog and fox successfully managed to drag all of the innocent bystanders out of the area and they turned to the younger hedgehog. Having been inattentive to the younger Mobians plight, they were shocked to find him curled in a ball in the middle of a throng of enemies, each of them getting ready to rein all types of attacks on him.

Sonic leapt into the mass of bodies, immediately jumping to his younger self's aide. Once in the horde, he automatically started to homing attack the enemies, and wasn't surprised when his attacks did nothing to the creatures, save push them back a few feet. However, this was exactly what he wanted, as it gave his younger self room to breathe and formulate a new plan.

Seconds later, the transformed hedgehog jumped up with a feral roar, swinging his arms around like a madman and not bothering to aim. All of his hits aimed true, knocking Dark Gaia Minions into each other and sending them up in puffs of smoke. His outburst lasted for about five seconds as he expended all of his energy in that last strike. However, five seconds was all he needed. All of the creatures were gone literal moments later.

With a smile on his face, Werehog Sonic finally succumbed to the hovering fog, just as an unfamiliar voice met his ears.

"_Seems like you've got it handled, Sonic_."

o0o

For the next few hours, Mini-Sonic swam in and out of conscience, barely aware of the voices speaking above him.

"_What're you doing here, Chip?_" His older self asked, confusion coloring his tone. "_Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?_"

"_The time stream has slowed down significantly. Mm, this is a great sandwich, Professor!" _The sound of munching. "_Woke me and Dark Gaia."_

"_That would explain the Dark Gaia Minions…_" Tails mumbled.

"_Hm? Oh, yeah, those. Dark Gaia's residual energy caused those to awaken when he emerged from the planet. Those were just laying dormant in the closed off section-place in town; there shouldn't be any more. Dark Gaia's not mad this time, promise." _A pause. "_Does anybody have any chocolate?_"

A chuckle from the older hedgehog. "_Yup, you're definitely Chip."_

"_Why wouldn't I be?"_

"_How long are you here for?"_ Tails asked, cutting Sonic's reply off.

"_Until the time stream gets fixed_." The new voice answered, mouth obviously full.

Mini-Sonic's head swam after that and he lost the rest of the conversation for a while. When he finally managed to tune back in, there was a new, familiar weight on his chest. More than likely, Mini-Tails had curled up and fallen asleep on the hedgehog's newly enlarged torso, the late hour finally getting to him.

"_You can stay with us!"_ Sonic's twenty-year-old incarnation said loudly, right next to his younger self's triangular ear.

"_Really?"_ The new voice asked. "_I wouldn't want to intrude…_"

"_Nah, Chip. You're my friend, and all of my friends are welcome in my home!"_

Sonic fell completely unconscious after that. He woke hours later to the sun streaming in the window, three familiar sleeping forms in Professor Pickle's lab and one strange red colored creature floating right next to his head. However, before he could address the creature, a strange pulling sensation made him look down at body. In the same wrist where his problems had started, the same strange type of dark energy was massing. Seconds later, it expanded and coated his whole body in a firm embrace. Subsequently, with a giant heave, it shoved against his body, changing him back into his normal body in a millisecond. Then, it dissipated into nothing like it had never existed.

"…that was amazingly painless…" was the only thing he could say.

"That's because I helped the Energy on its way out." The small red creature said to him, floating happily so it was above his chest. It dropped to sit on the tan spot on his belly and leaned in toward his head, placing its small hands his stomach.

"And you are…?" Sonic trailed off, flinching away from the brown-eyed stare he was receiving.

"I'm Light Gaia!" The creature answered happily. "But you can call me Chip!"

_End Chapter 34_

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><p><em>You can tell where I got tired of this chapter and was just like "Let's finish this already!" 11,000 words (longest chapter in the story) and almost a month later, here we are. One giant hurdle done; a few more to go. <em>

_Don't hesitate to inform me if anything confused you. I will not hesitate to explain it to you. _

_Fun Fact: There was a rumor going around that SEGA was going to include the Werehog in Generations. Someone managed to hack the earliest demo and there were hourglasses in _Classic_ Rooftop Run. _

_A few thank yous this chapter:_

_First, to Yami-sama42, a big, steamy gratitude pie (because cake is lame) goes to you for designing and writing the transformation scene (because I suck at those) for our favorite little werehog puppy._

_Second, a big thank you to MilesTailsFox-fan who has graced me with some fanart! Links should be up on my profile as soon as my computer decides it likes deviantART again. _

_._

_._

_._

_Reviews are cherished._


	35. If You Obey All the Rules

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> Last chapter was too busy and theory-heavy for some of you. Got it. I'll try to lessen up on big doses like that in the future, but no promises, as the climax is looming closer with every chapter and I have a lot to set up.

That being said, there is _no_ theory or plot in this chapter. Huzzah! Just plain good fun and humor. Hence the quick posting.

* * *

><p>It was a well known fact that Sonic took care of Tails.<p>

It was a lesser known fact that they had to answer to a social worker.

Every since they had established a house in Green Hill Zone, they had been receiving random visits from social services. Apparently, since that, when they had first caught the attention of the humans, both Sonic and Tails had been minors, that threw up red flags. A ten-year-old raising a four-year-old was considered illegal on Earth, but, because they were on _Mobius_ and the two minors in question were _Mobians_ living on Mobian soil, they didn't have much jurisdiction to get the problem fixed. They could not, under any circumstances go and extract either of the children from the property, unless they had evidence of neglect and they proved it to the local Mobian government.

So, they resorted to random checks on the two.

However, because of a variety of reasons – Sonic being a national hero, both children looking perfectly healthy, and the house seemingly adequate – there was nothing they could do. Of course, neither of the Mobians were really worried. Sonic was perfectly capable of taking care of Tails.

Since moving to the Mystic Ruins, the checks had lessened until Sonic had hit eighteen. Then, someone would poke around at least once a month. Sonic was an adult, they informed, and therefore responsible for Tails totally and completely. Of course, Sonic, being who he was and dealing with what he had to deal with, usually forgot when important days pertaining to his custody of Tails rolled around. Most of the time, they weren't home when the social worker showed up and, when they eventually stumbled back to the Workshop, a note would be waiting for them, warning them that if they gave a repeat performance, Tails would be removed from Sonic's care and placed in a foster home. Usually, they just laughed off the notes, simply because their heroic deeds were splashed all over the televisions and newspapers and there was nothing the humans could do, really.

So, when the 25th of March rolled around, and a knock rang through the house at around lunch time, Sonic had no idea what he was in for when he opened the door.

At the time, he had been down in the Workshop with Little Tails, watching over him to make sure he didn't blow anything up while his older self was away. The elder fox was nowhere to be found, the _Tornado-2_ with him, so it was easy to assume that he could be anywhere on the planet. Mini-Sonic was currently upstairs, sleeping, the taller hedgehog assumed. The younger blue one had spent most of the night playing a new video game and had crashed early that morning, presumably around the same time that Tails chose to take an airborne joyride. Chip, the newest inhabitant to the house, was currently sitting on top of Sonic's head, watching as the smaller fox worked from the safe vantage point.

In the past week, Chip had adjusted to life in the Workshop easily. He quickly tuned into the general push-and-pull of those dwelling within and had slowly started to form friendships with the two he hadn't officially met before. Strangely enough, he seemed to be closest to Tiny Tails out of all four of them and the two became almost inseparable in a small amount of time.

"What's that?" Chip asked as the little fox picked a Chaos Drive out of the box sitting next to him on the floor – coincidentally, it was the purple one that his elder self had bought at the Festival – and held it up to the light to check it for dings or leaks.

"It's a Chaos Drive, Chip." The four-year-old answered, his ears swiveling around as if he had heard something. "It's the primary power source in the newer _Tornado_ models…" He trailed off, eyes narrowing. "Do you hear that?" He asked Sonic, staring up at the hedgehog. "Sounds like someone's knocking."

Sonic's smaller ears swiveled in the direction of the stairs, but didn't pick up any sign of knocking. "The proximity warning should have gone off." No sooner were the words out of his mouth did a small beeping sound filter into the whole room. It was soft, nonintrusive, but high-pitched enough to catch the attention of anyone within hearing distance. "Oh." With a sigh, Sonic reached over and hoisted the small fox into his arms. "C'mon, lil' bro. You can't be down here by yourself."

"But, Sonic, the Chaos reactor is sensitive and if we leave it alone for long it'll – "

"It won't be long, I promise."

The hedgehog scaled the basement stairs quickly and he set the kit on the floor once they reached the kitchen door. With a pat on the head, he sent him up to the second floor to wake Mini-Sonic from his nap. The four-year-old looked pensive, but followed the hedgehog's instructions without complaint.

Sonic sighed when the kid was out of earshot and turned on his heel to stalk to the front door, his feet tapping on the wood floor hollowly. Steeling his nerves, he twisted the knob and allowed the door to swing toward him.

"Hello and welcome to the Prower-Hedgehog household. How may I help you –" While he was talking, he had been staring at his right glove, analyzing a rip, but when he looked up at the end of his statement, his face dropped and he cut himself off. "Mrs. Stein!"

"_Ms._ Stein." The woman darkening the doorstep corrected with a harsh glare on her features.

_Ms._ Stein was the bane of Sonic's short existence, as she was the social worker assigned to their case. A large, wide woman, she elicited fear from the hero of Mobius – no easy feat – with just a glare and held him in that terrified state until she left.

"Sorry, _Miss_ Stein." Sonic rubbed the back of his neck.

"It is perfectly fine, Mister Hedgehog." She answered, pushing her way past him to get into the house. Almost immediately, she stuck her head around the corner, analyzing the messy appearance of the living room with a wrinkled nose.

"Please _do_ come in." Sonic mumbled under his breath, closing the door with a harsh _snap_ and stomping after the woman. "Is there something I can help you with…?" He asked as she turned toward him, her beady eyes glaring at him once again through her small glasses. Silently, Sonic wondered if Dr. Eggman's long lost sister had just stormed into his house.

"_What_," she asked, overriding Sonic's question, "is that _thing_ on your head?"

Suddenly, Sonic was painfully aware of Chip still using his head as a seat. To his credit, Chip realized that his position was compromised just as quickly as Sonic and he tripped over himself to extract himself from the hedgehog's person, using Sonic's blue furred skull as a spring board in the process.

"I'm Chip!" He exclaimed happily, buzzing right up to the subject of Sonic's ire with a bright smile on his face. He stuck out a small, white paw toward the woman. "Do you have any chocolate?" His customary greeting thus uttered, he made small grabby fingers toward the human, his smile never wavering.

Sonic had to give the small burgundy creature some props. Even he, a being a whole lot larger than the fluttering creature, could not look Ms. Stein straight in the face like that. But, then again, he amended, Chip was one-third responsible for the creation of the planet and had to live in the core with _Dark Gaia_… He shuddered to think what Dark Gaia's morning breath smelled like after a few millennia.

"No." Ms. Stein answered shortly, gazing at him with narrowed eyes. "Are you another of Mr. Hedgehog's charges? How old are you?"

Sonic cut in before Chip could answer with a number that would undoubtedly include the words "trillion" and "billion" somewhere in it. "Chip's a friend. An _old_ friend." Sonic stressed, cutting his eyes toward the flying Light Gaia. Chip seemed to catch his drift because he nodded before miming that he was locking his lips and throwing away the key. Ms. Stein looked unconvinced, so Sonic pressed forward before she could say anything more on the matter. "To what do I owe this…" he fished around for an appropriate adjective, but came up blank so just finished lamely with, "visit?"

"It's the twenty-fifth, Mr. Hedgehog." She answered, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"The twenty-fifth?" The hedgehog asked as Chip placed himself back on Sonic's head.

"_Test day_," she stressed.

"Wha – Oh! Right, I knew that."

Despite his obvious genius status, Tails was still required to test out of every high school subject if he wanted to be able to go to college one day. Officially, he had graduated from grade school years ago, but every so often, the curriculum would change and the humans would dig up a new subject for him to test on. A few months ago, they had received a call scheduling the latest test for the twenty-fifth of March, but with all of the things that had happened lately, it had slipped both Sonic and Tails' minds.

And, of course, Tails had chosen _today_ of all days to skip out and go globetrotting. Typical.

"Spanish, right?" Sonic sighed, turning toward the kitchen after making sure that the woman was following him.

"Yes." She answered, eyeing the house with a disdainful air.

Tails had barely studied the language. With such a limited amount of free time lately, Sonic couldn't blame him, but he was slightly thankful that the fox wasn't present today. Of course, Tails had a natural penchant for languages, having picked up English faster than Sonic, but even Tails could not have learned a language between trying to build the machine to send the Littles back in time, keep the _Tornados_ in working order, and the various other things they had gotten caught up in.

"You know, Ms. Stein," Sonic began, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the woman was listening, "we've been _really_ busy lately, and I don't think Tails had enough time to prepare for this test…"

"We do not show favoritism, Mr. Hedgehog." She answered curtly, glaring at him again. "Miles received the same amount of warning as all of the other students."

"Well, _Miles_," the hedgehog replied, mimicking the human's haughty tone, "isn't here right now."

She paused at that, her hand tightening around the handle of her briefcase slightly. Chip tensed on the top of Sonic's head.

"When will he be back?"

"Don't know." Sonic answered triumphantly. "Sometime before nightfall."

She _ticked_ under her breath at that before sighing in what sounded like defeat. "I'll just have to wait for him then."

"Okay, sorry you stopped by for nothing – Wait, _what?_!"

"I'll wait for him." She repeated slowly.

"No! You can't do that –" The hedgehog cut himself off. "I-I mean, why would you want to do that?"

"We wouldn't want Miles to fail, would we?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Can't you just come back a different day?" Vaguely, Sonic was aware that he was staring to whine. "We should be here all week."

"You don't exactly have the best track record at keeping appointments, Mr. Hedgehog."

Sonic grumbled at that, but chose to keep his dignity intact by not replying.

"Now," the woman began, "how about you get us something to drink and we can talk about how you and Miles are doing, hm?"

Sonic looked ready say something very rude and potentially offensive, but the sound of someone stumbling down the stairs stopped him. "Hey, older me, we got any grub? I'm starving." Little Sonic called as he marched into the room in his socked feet, looking disheveled and exhausted. He didn't spare a glance at the table, as he was making a bee-line for the refrigerator.

"Uh…" The darker blue hedgehog looked back and forth between the human and the newly arrived ten-year-old. "Little Blue…"

The smaller hedgehog, who had just opened the fridge to rummage around inside, turned to look at his older self, a piece of cheese hanging out of his mouth and his arms filled with the makings of a sandwich. However, when he saw the woman seated at the table, he gasped and then (subsequently) gagged on the cheese now clogging his throat. Quickly, he stumbled to the island in the middle of the kitchen and dropped his mountain of food stuffs on the countertop before slamming his fist into his chest a few times to dislodge the dairy product from his esophagus. "Mrs. Stein?_!"_ He croaked once he could breathe again.

"_Ms._ Stein." The woman answered, exasperated but not at all affected that there were two of the same person in the same room.

"Heh, sorry." The small hedgehog answered, glancing toward his older self with a questioning face. The other simply shrugged, his eyes slightly panicked. "What're you doing here, Ms. Stein?"

The woman sighed. "Miles was scheduled to take his Spanish test today, but he is nowhere to be found."

The young Mobian's mouth fell into a small 'oh' of understanding. "You want me to go call him on the transmi –?" Sonic cut himself off when his older self started shaking his head vigorously at him. "No?" Another head shake. "No. Got it. I'll be leaving then." He paused to grab an apple, eyes alighting on something on the counter next to the fruit basket. "Hey, Chip." The small god's head picked up and he wrenched his hands away from Sonic's earlobes, where he had grabbed on for dear life. "I've got some chocolate. You want some?" The hedgehog waved the cheerily wrapped bar while he ran his green piece of produce under the facet and Chip's eyes lit up.

"Do I ever!" He bolted from Sonic's skull, almost slamming straight into his younger counterpart. The elder Mobian sent the smaller a look of gratitude, which the light blue one acknowledged with a nod.

Once the pair was out of the room, Sonic glanced upward at the taller woman, almost wincing away from the strength of her stare. "Why don't you sit down?" He asked, gesturing toward the table. "I'll get us some drinks."

The human sighed in response. "Water's fine." She answered, looking down at the short table with poorly veiled contempt. Slowly, she eased herself into a seat, placing her briefcase on it with a formidable sound.

o0o

In the foyer, the other three inhabitants of the house were sitting on the staircase, peering at the pair between the railings. Little Sonic was slowly dolling out pieces of chocolate – between taking bites of his apple – to Chip and Tails in an attempt to keep them quiet. Both seemed content enough, though Tails kept glancing up at him in a way that was starting to make him nervous.

"Sonic?" He asked. "Who's that lady?"

"That's our social worker, Tails." The hedgehog answered shortly, watching as his elder self pulled two clean glasses out of the cupboard. "She makes sure that we're both healthy and I'm taking good care of you."

"But, why does she have to make sure? Doesn't she know who you are?"

A small smile quirked at Sonic's lips and he glanced down at his best friend. "Of course she does, little bro." He rubbed the fox on the head. "But she knows that we're busy and, sometimes, we can forget to eat."

Tails hummed thoughtfully at that and he nodded once in understanding. "I get it, I think."

Sonic chuckled at that and turned back to watch his older self. However, he didn't get to gaze too long before he noticed something was amiss. He smelled something… something _burning_. "Tails…" He trailed off, taking a huge whiff. "Do you smell that?"

The fox next to him looked at him quizzically before following his example and sniffing the air. His eyes widened and he groaned. "Oh no…" Then, he was off like a shot, down the stairs and toward the workshop, screaming the whole way.

o0o

A few minutes later found the odd pair sitting in silence, both nursing their respective glasses of water. Sonic tapped the side of his out of anxiety every few seconds, filling the hush with the high-pitched snap of sound. After a few minutes of this, Ms. Stein decided to break the tension.

"I trust that none of Miles'… _hobbies_ have gotten out of hand, lately?"

Sonic jumped at her voice, almost spilling his water. "No." He answered slowly, weighing his words. "No fires in the past few months. He's getting better at containing the reactions too."

Her face screwed up into a sour expression at that and she opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a pounding sound in the direction of the stairs.

"_I gotta get it before it explodes!_" Little Tails yelled as he darted through the room in a flash of gold, his arms flailing above his head, before disappearing through the door to the workshop.

Sonic couldn't help but facepalm and he sent a sheepish look toward the woman through his fingers when she cut a glare at him. "What good timing he has…" He mumbled, attempting to chuckle. "Such a nice sense of humor."

Tails chose that moment to waltz back into the room, closing the door behind him with a perky _snap_. "It's okay." He said up to the two seated at the table, a huge smile on his face. "I got it. We're safe."

"Great…" Sonic said weakly toward the four-year-old, sending him a wobbly thumbs-up.

Tails gave him an identical thumbs-up before skipping happily out of the room, yelling up at Little Sonic that 'The Chaos reactor is stable now! You can stop worrying!'

The look Ms. Stein sent the hedgehog could have made paint peel.

Sonic groaned and dropped his head to the table with an audible _thunk_.

o0o

A few hours of idle chit-chat later, and Tails finally – _finally!_ – arrived back at the Workshop. The sound of the plane circling around and the hangar door opening were like salvation to Sonic's ears and he hastily excused himself from the room before darting down to the workshop.

He met Tails as the fox was sliding out of the plane. There was a smirk on the thirteen-year-old's face but it fell when he caught sight of Sonic's expression.

"Oh man." He groaned. "What's wrong?"

"Do you know what today is, Tails?" Sonic asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Uh, Thursday?"

"No, well, _yes_, it's Thursday, but do you know what's important about this particular Thursday?"

Tails stared at him blankly, his IQ points trying to pinpoint the significance of the day.

"I'll give you a hint, it's important, and you're very, _very_ late."

"Late for what?" Tails was still lost.

Sonic sighed. "Test day."

"Huh?"

"Spanish, _remember_?"

Suddenly, realization bloomed across Tails' face. "_¿Hoy?"_ He demanded.

"_¡Sí!"_ Sonic answered, voice slightly shaking as he held the word out.

"_Bummer majores…"_ Tails sighed, rubbing his temples. "Did I miss it?"

"No." Sonic answered curtly yet honestly. "Ms. Stein decided to wait for you to make it home."

Tails' eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes." Sonic answered, voice slightly hysterical. "Look Tails, I know you haven't had time to learn Spanish and I tried to make her leave but –"

"Sonic," Tails interrupted, throwing his hands out to stop the hedgehog's tirade, "I know enough Spanish to pass the test. Chill. I just can't believe that you've been stuck with Ms. Stein for… How long was it?"

"A few hours."

"Woah." Tails breathed, his eyes widening. "You sat with her for that long? You're my hero…"

Sonic's face went flat. "Oh, shut it. Let's just get this over with. You're supposed to be in trouble, so follow my lead." Tails nodded and both scaled the stairs slowly before Sonic slammed open the door, his voice raised slightly.

"– were you thinking, leaving without telling me when you're gonna be back?_!_ You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Ms. Stein jumped at the sudden burst of sound, but looked pleased at Sonic's tone, nodding her head at his scolding.

Tails, for his part, looked effectively downtrodden. His hands behind his back and his head bowed, he looked like the perfect young teenager getting scolded. "I'm sorry, Sonic."

"'I'm sorry' doesn't cut it this time, Tails!" Sonic responded, voice a little lower than before. "We have rules for a reason."

"But…" Tails let the rebuttal hang while he dug his right hand into his namesakes, "if you obey all the rules," he picked his face up, a wicked smile adoring his features, and his hand came around his body, the thing clutched there glowing happily, "you miss all the fun." The light blue Chaos Emerald pulsed once, as if agreeing with Tails' words, and Sonic's face split into a smile for half of a second before he remembered that he was supposed to be playing the angry-big-brother role.

However, before he could say anything in return, Tiny Tails chose to race into the room, Chip close behind him. "You've got an Emerald!" He yelled happily, tackling his older self. "We only need one more, now!" Chip seemed just as excited, though he decided to just happily bob up and down above the two foxes, chewing contentedly on half of a chocolate bar.

"Now, wait a second, Tails!" Sonic tried to take control of the situation, but his younger self clapped a hand on his arm, stopping him mid-breath. He glanced down and the ten-year-old winked at him.

"The jig is up, dude. Forget the act." He nodded toward Ms. Stein, where she seemed to be glaring again. Sonic silently wondered if that was her default.

"Well, Mr. Prower," she said, standing. The room went deathly silent. "Seems you know how to make an entrance." Slightly, the sides of her lips started to quirk, as if she was trying to smile. "However, it is six o'clock and I would like to get home, so if you would _please_…" She gestured toward the table.

Tails stood and nodded before falling into the chair she had vacated. "Lay it on me."

The woman shooed the other three Mobians (and one god) out of the room with a wave of her hands. "This won't take long." She mumbled as she closed the door behind them.

o0o

Approximately thirty minutes later, Ms. Stein was walking across the plateau the workshop was situated on, her briefcase hanging at her side. All was quiet and she reflected that it must be nice to live out here, with the ocean and the birds to keep you company.

Until that is, a yell came from the workshop ("_I passed_!"), and a wave of cheering and applause followed it, shattering the silence like a baseball through a window.

_On second thought_, she thought to herself, a smile making its way across her face, _maybe it's a little bit quieter in the city…_

_End Chapter 35_

* * *

><p><em>Translation:<em>

'_¿Hoy?' means "Today?"_

_Seems like Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic have switched places for this chapter… Ah well. _

_I'm not exactly pleased with how this chapter came out, but it's been plaguing me all night, so I'm posting it and declaring it finished. _

_I have nothing witty to say today. Woe is me. _

_._

_._

_._

_Reviews are cherished. _


	36. Bad Taste is Better than No Taste

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Bad taste is better than no taste."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> It was brought to my attention that I had yet to write a chapter from Classic Tails' point of view. For shame, Hikari.

That being said, for reasons unbeknownst to me, this chapter was very difficult to write. Maybe it's because Classic Tails has such an innocence and lack of… _cynicism_ about him that is so different from the others, making him almost the total opposite of, yet (somehow) completely the same as, Modern Tails. I have yet to write from the point of view of such a young, unknowing, yet brilliant individual, which presented a whole new parameter of challenges that I shall not get into. Ah well. Live and learn, eh?

With that in mind, please do excuse any type of out of character moments that any of the characters may experience. The simple fact that we are looking through Classic Tails' eyes might warp the other characters' personalities – or, as is more accurate, the reader's _perception_ of their personalities – into something a little different. I tried my best to fix them, but I'm a character writer first and foremost, meaning that if Classic Tails wants to take over the chapter from me, then he will.

_Please note:_ Everything in this story is meant to be taken as _friendship_. There is no romance at all. Don't squint for it; it's not there. I've had quite a few people PMing me and asking me if I secretly ship Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic, and all I can say is… no, just no. That would be like me falling in love with an eight-year-old version of myself. That's pretty messed up, if you ask me.

* * *

><p>Tiny Tails loved living in the future for a variety of reasons.<p>

First and foremost, for his older self. He loved to be around Mechanic; loved being able to watch him work and try to understand what exactly he was doing. He could ask questions all day long and his elder self would never get annoyed or peeved or irritated, because he understood Little Tails' need to _understand_ everything. He himself suffered from the same need, though he could now keep his questions down to a minimum, unlike his younger self.

There was something about the Mechanic that just made T2 happy to be around him. He had a presence about his person that just _drew_ him in. In between the sarcastic remarks and the smart observations, his older self was everything that Tails hoped to grow up to be, and _more_. His bond with Sonic had grown so much that the hedgehog now trusted him enough to leave him alone with his experiments, and they had a steady banter, one so full of inside jokes that neither of the past incarnations could hope to catch up.

That was the second thing he loved, watching Mechanic interact with Big Sonic. The way they were around each other, so completely at ease, yet aware of the other's emotions and reactions made him wish that he and his big brother were like that. However, even his four-year-old brain knew that a friendship that complex and developed took time to grow and shape, and he was happy enough just to observe from the outside; he knew that one day, that would be him joking around with Sonic without a care in the world.

He cherished the moments when they got into a playful argument, watching as their emotions flipped unexpectantly and their jabs flew through the air like blunt knives, always hitting home but never slicing deep. The fact that they could laugh off their spats is what made them so special to the young kit; no tears were shed, only chuckles.

He knew that his Sonic didn't like it here. Heck, he had made it one hundred percent clear that he would rather be fighting Dr. Robotnik – _in a volcano_, he was always quick to add – than be stuck out of time like this. The lack of aging and movement was messing with his judgment and sense of self, he had confided in Tiny Tails a few weeks after settling into the Workshop; he couldn't get a good grasp on their surroundings when they left the Workshop, even though the planet hadn't changed much in the past ten years, and he wasn't sleeping well.

Tails hadn't mentioned it in return, but he hadn't been sleeping well either. The nightmares of what they had seen and experienced while they had been traveling through their future kept them both up well into the night, even when they took something to help them slumber. Of course, T2 tried to keep it a secret from Mechanic as well, but the other fox could see right through him – probably because he had once stood in the same exact place as the younger. The day he had finally addressed it had been a normal one, completely monotonous when compared to the other, life changing days they had been in the middle of lately.

They had been in the Workshop, Mechanic fiddling away with Knuckles' hoverboard, trying to improve some of the faulty mechanics, while T2 was barely peeking over the table with huge, dark eyes, watching as his older self's nimble fingers easily waded through the large expanse of wires and microchips. Outside, Knuckles and the elder Sonic were currently teaching the younger hedgehog how to ride a hoverboard. Little Sonic could already ride a snowboard and a skateboard, so, they claimed, it wouldn't be that hard for him to learn the hoverboard.

"What's that do?" T2 asked, standing on his tip toes so he could point at a something resting in the board's control panel.

"That's the thing that holds the gear," Mechanic answered with a smile as he easily pulled the circular disk out of its hold. It let out a _hiss_ of pressurized air as it was removed. "Right now, I've got a grinding gear installed, because that's the easiest one to calibrate. Eventually, I'll put Knuckles' power gear back in." The elder fox held the gear out toward his younger self, and T2 tentatively reached forward and ran his small, gloved fingers over the gear, mouthing the name etched into the soft, malleable metal.

"This is so neat…" He whispered so softly that he could barely hear it himself. However, the elder fox seemed to have heard him, because he turned completely and set him with an understanding look.

"Would you like a better view?"

The fox nodded enthusiastically, practically bouncing on his toes as he tried to see over the work table. Mechanic laughed before putting the gear down and bending to heave his younger self into his arms. Swiftly, he placed the four-year-old down on the only free corner of the table, at a diagonal from where he was working. Immediately, the younger fox's namesakes curled around his legs and he placed his hands onto the wood between his splayed legs and leaned forward, his eyes somehow wider than before.

From this better vantage point, he could see every wire and mechanical piece of the hoverboard. His eyes quickly categorized the many wires, following them through the machine. His eyes pricked when he noticed a crack in the casing and he reached out a finger and traced the blemish.

The elder fox followed his younger self's movements and he huffed a sigh. "Knuckles is really hard on this board," he mumbled in explanation, rolling his eyes as he spoke. "He must've scraped it against the ground on a tight corner. Figures." He scoffed low in his throat. "I'll have to go into Station Square tomorrow to get the modified plastic to fix it; I used the last of it up the last time Sonic slammed his board into a cliff because he forgot to pull up. He ruined both hover jets _and_ the air canister…" He shook his head, though there was a fond smile on his face. "I chewed him out for that one."

The kit listened attentively, his ears raised to catch every syllable and his head ready to nod at the appropriate moments. When his older incarnation did not make a move to speak again, he allowed the silence to settle, enjoying the simple joy of watching the elder fox work.

What could have been minutes or even hours later, the elder Tails clapped his hands, jolting the smaller out of his thoughts. "Well, that's it for Knuckles' board, beside the ding. How about we go get some lunch and see what the lugs are up to, eh?" He spoke as he swept the board off of the table and propped it against the wall carefully, making sure it was secure before turning back to his younger self. However, one look at the tiny fox kit and his brow furrowed.

Unbeknownst to T2 himself, he had closed his eyes and he breathing had deepened, like he was falling asleep. The older of the two foxes approached the younger and slowly reached out a hand to poke the child on the arm.

The reaction was instantaneous. Tiny Tails jumped, sending himself careening over the side of the table and onto the floor with a painful sound. Seconds later, a weak "ow" penetrated the air.

"Sorry, T2," Mechanic chuckled as he bent down to help the small fox up. "You must've dozed off."

The child allowed his elder persona to help him up and he shook his head, trying to get rid of the cobwebs creeping over his senses. "Must have…" He answered breathily, straining to remember where exactly he was. "What were we doing?" He asked eventually, unable to completely recall everything.

The look on Mechanic's face was alarmed and he quickly picked the fox up and placed him back onto the table, ordering him to lie down. The little one resisted, straining against the stronger hands, but the bigger fox won out in the end and he plopped back with a huff, crossing his arms.

"Mechanic…" He whined, turning his giant eyes towards the other. The receiver of the puppy-dog stare simply rolled his blue orbs and scoffed.

"Won't work, T2. I'm you, remember?"

"B-but, I'm okay now…" The child's voice wobbled dangerously, and his eyes were shining, despite their dark, desperate look. "Let me up please."

"How long have you been suffering from insomnia, T2?" Blunt and to the point, the unexpected question would have taken anyone with a smaller amount of IQ points by surprise.

Little Tails scowled, his woebegone façade gone in seconds. "I don't have insomnia, Mechanic."

"You've been falling in and out of sleep since I put you on that table, lil' me," the thirteen-year-old argued, his face concerned. "I assumed you hadn't gotten enough sleep last night, but then I remembered that Sonic made you go to bed early, because you had been nodding off on the couch."

The younger scowled at the mention of his forced slumber. "I got plenty sleep last night," he answered eventually, his tone firm.

Mechanic sighed, but his only reply was to plant his elbows on the table and cup his face in his palms. He stared down his younger self, one of his eye ridges raised in silent observation.

The younger fox held his stare for a few seconds before he looked away, mumbling under his breath. "A few months now."

"Come again?" Elder Tails cocked his head to the side so one of his ears was facing directly at the younger boy.

"I haven't been able to sleep for a few months."

Mechanic looked a little shocked at the amount of time, though he did a good job of hiding the alarm. "What's wrong, T2?" He asked, his voice soft.

"I've been having these _nightmares_, older me." The fox answered, voice half a step quieter than his companion's. Macro-Tails' eyes softened, and he looked ready to reply, but the smaller fox wasn't done yet. "All I see when I fall asleep are explosions and… and giant robots and… I'm so scared when I wake up. It seems _real_!" His eyes were moist, though he withheld the tears pooling right behind his irises. "Sonic's tried to help, but he's having nightmares too…" He sniffled. "I don't know what to do."

T2 mentally scolded himself for being so emotional. He wanted to be strong, like Sonic was! But, the dreams were so scary and overwhelming. They closed off his senses when he was asleep, and, when he woke, he was sure that _real life_ was a dream. Usually, the only thing that could calm him down was the steady sound of Sonic's breathing as the hedgehog slept nearby, but Sonic had become more prone to running around the Mystic Ruins at night. Tails had no idea when he slept, but he assumed it was less than Tails himself was, which wouldn't be good when they had to fight Dr. Robotnik again…

He shuddered and rubbed his hands up and down his arms, trying to get rid of the goose bumps that had rippled up his arms at the thought. The notion that Sonic was weakened and vulnerable, even a small amount by lack of sleep, left him feeling harried and worried. That worry, in turn, translated into exhaustion, and, with the inability to sleep, he was slowly spiraling into a cone of exhaustive sleep deprivation. Sonic himself had noticed that something was wrong, but he had been constantly distracted by his older self before he could say something.

Mechanic's face was wide open with worry, and he eased an arm around his younger self's shoulders. The heavy weight of his arm – _my future arm_, he thought to himself – made his whole body slump, and he took a deep breath, the arm making him feel more secure than the older fox would ever know. "Your body is reacting negatively to being out of the time stream," the elder fox mumbled, his ears lowered in thought. He gazed down at the smaller kit's hands and slowly grabbed one of them in his own. He stared at their gloved palms, silently reflecting on how those small fingers would grow into his thin, nimble ones. "You aren't aging…" His brow furrowed and he pressed his hand against his the tinier hand, watching as their palms lined together, but his fingers extended past the edge of the smaller's own.

"I know," T2 murmured, his ears raised as he watched his older self's actions. He was amazed at the agile way he would be able to move his hands in the future, the complete control he had over every digit and joint. Right now, his hands were clumsy, unable to splice two wires together without great patience and concentration. He was working on his dexterity, and, from what he was seeing, it paid off. Easily, the elder fox curled his fingers around Mini-Tails small hand and he gave a gentle squeeze before releasing his hand. He removed his arm from the fox's person before hopping up onto the table next to the diminutive golden form. The four-year-old gazed at him with huge black eyes before scooting into his lap and leaning his head back onto the other's shoulder.

In that moment, with Mechanic's heart beat pulsing gently into his back and the sound of his breathing filling his ears, T2 never felt closer to someone. Sonic was his best friend, but this was his _older self_. They shared a soul, the same ambitions and dreams, and the same past. True, the elder had gone through a few more things than he had, but they were still essentially the same. He could feel their hearts synchronizing, their lifelines aligning as they were finally, truly, realizing how close they actually were.

"What did you dream about last night, T2?" elder Tails asked, surprising the smaller from his thoughts.

The child scowled. "That water demi-god, destroying Station Square. I was standing on a half-submerged part of the freeway, watching as Super Sonic charged at it, but I couldn't help him. I felt so _useless_, so inadequate… I wished there was something I could do…"

Mechanic ticked under his breath, sending a slight reverberation through the tinier fox's back. "This is worse than I thought…" he sighed, easing the fox forward so he could look him in the eye. "You're reliving my memories…" At the other's confused look, he plowed forward. "I mean, you're witnessing what's gonna happen in your future… my past… The place in between you and me." He was struggling for the words, unable to correctly form an explanation. Luckily, his younger self understood what he was saying.

"This isn't good," the child gasped as his fur started to puff out, shock and anxiety attacking him. "That means that the time line is slowly starting to crumble… Your memories are traveling back to me."

"Uh huh…" Mechanic groaned, sliding off the table and away from the younger fox. He quickly darted across the room and slid into the chair sitting in front of the main computer in the back corner of the room. Immediately, he swept his hand across the desk, summoning the holo-keyboard before starting to pound at the table top, watching as a prompt box sprung open at his touch. "Searching for anomalies…" he mumbled to himself.

However, before the computer could present him with its findings, the smaller kit was there, his huge eyes shining and innocent. He placed a hand on the golden arm of his older self, watching as the taller Mobian turned to look at him.

"Can I help?" he asked, though the yawn that sprung up cut his sentence in half.

A smile wormed its way onto Mechanic's face, and he shook his head. "No, you're exhausted T2." At the younger's downtrodden look, he smiled wider. "How about we go upstairs and tell Sonic about this, then you and I take a nap, huh?"

The four-year-old was going to argue, but one look into his older self's bright blue eyes, and his fighting spirit crumbled. The older two-tail's eyes looked just as harried as he felt, as if this new information was weighing down on him physically. Silently, he acquiesced to the request with a small nod, and the elder stood and took his head before leading him from the Workshop. They scaled the stairs into the kitchen and entered the house with a sense of foreboding.

However, before they could turn toward the back door leading to the backyard, Little Sonic brushed past them, scowling, and threw himself into a chair at the table. The darker blue incarnation of the ten-year-old followed quickly after, with Knuckles – Chip taking up residence on the top of the red Mobian's head – bringing up the rear.

The six beings stood in silence for a few seconds before Mechanic hedged a quick question. "Uh, what's up guys?"

That seemed to be the wrong thing to ask, because Little Sonic scowled and mumbled under his breath while his older self started to snicker.

"My older self has a horrible taste in hobbies, that's what," the adolescent hedgehog answered, his face set in a permanent dark glower. "His stupid hoverboard almost killed me."

"Bad taste is better than no taste, Little Blue," the twenty-year-old speedster answered, his body shaking with suppressed mirth. "And, in my hoverboard's defense, you _did_ use up all of the air. Not my fault it was an older version, and if that happens, you're supposed to run along the track until you have to can refill the canister."

"Yeah, well, your stupid hoverboard almost dumped me into the _ocean_. Luckily for me, Knuckles was able to catch me."

"You're welcome, by the way," the echidna remarked as he sat down. Chip tumbled off of his head and padded over to the edge of the table before taking to the air. Quickly, he buzzed over to the younger fox and, as if sensing his unrest, attached himself to the kit's arm for a hug. T2 wasted no time grabbing Chip into his arms and squeezing him like a teddy bear. The tiny god hummed happily and relaxed when the four-year-old pulled him away from the hug, but kept him in his grasp.

"You shouldn't have launched it off the cliff, then!" Elder Sonic argued back to his younger self, rolling his eyes.

The younger incarnation of the hedgehog barked something back, but T2 didn't hear it because he was suddenly overwhelmed with a sweep of exhaustion. He swayed on his feet and was sure he would fall, but, suddenly, strong hands were on his shoulders, guiding him from the room. He glanced up to see his future persona steering him toward the living room, leaving the two quarreling hedgehogs and calm echidna behind them. Knuckles watched them leave with a knowing look before focusing back on the argument, being sure to stay firmly neutral.

About half an hour later, both hedgehogs were surprised to find their little brothers asleep on the plush carpet in the den, the smaller fox kit curled into his older self's stomach, his small face hidden in Macro-Tails' shoulder and Chip asleep in his arms. The older fox had his tails arched around the smaller's body, creating a warm cocoon of safety around their sleeping forms.

"That's the calmest I've seen him in months…" Mini-Sonic remarked, gazing at the scene with a soft expression.

"Hm, yeah," the elder replied, smirking. "He must've really needed a nap. Tails doesn't like to waste daylight by sleeping in the middle of the day."

"They looked worried when we walked in earlier," the little hedgehog responded. "Maybe something happened."

"How about we let them sleep in peace?" Knuckles asked, coming up behind them. "We can find out what's up later. Everyone needs a little peace every once in a while."

"Fair enough," the taller hero answered, turning away from the relaxing sight. "How about we teach Little Blue here how to board down the streets of Station Square?"

"After we drop him out of a helicopter, or is that optional?" Knuckles replied good naturedly, pointing the hedgehogs out of the room with a wave of his hands.

The ten-year-old's dark eyes widened. "_What_," he gasped. "No!"

"Oh, c'mon Little Me! It's fun!"

Their voices faded as they left the house, intending to catch the train into Station Square. T2 smiled slightly in his sleep, his subconscious recognizing the peace that was left behind.

Chip stirred slightly, opening one amber eye to gaze at the child who was holding onto him for dear life. "Sleep well, young fox," he mumbled, half-awake. "You are going to need your strength for what it is to come…"

_End Chapter 36_

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><p><em>Number of times the Sonics have found the foxes sleeping in the living room: 2. Really, you'd think I'd be more original.<em>

_And, Tails manages to make the ficlet super cute, adorable, and he saves my butt. Again. There's something about him that makes every chapter focused on him heartwarming. I'm not complaining, just… observing, I suppose. There's a reason he's my favorite character. _

_I really should stop pushing the prompts off into the secondary sections, but that's what I get for planning a chapter that doesn't really have anything to do with the phrase… Ah well, all that matters is that the prompt makes it in, even if I did kinda forget about it…_

_Okay, I forgot about Mini-Knuckles… Whoops. He's on Angel Island, watching the Master Emerald. Ya'know, the usual. _

_For those of you who don't know, I have a new story and a new oneshot up. The latter includes Sonic and Tails brotherly thunderstorm bonding, so check that out if you're so inclined. _

_So close to 250 reviews… I can _feel _it… A big thank you goes out to everyone who has reviewed this story. I realize that I usually forget to thank everyone, but I try to reply to all of the signed reviews I get, but, sometimes life catches up or my Internet likes to cut out (we have a sucky connection), and I forget. So, thank you!_

_._

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_._

_Reviews are cherished._


	37. The Most Beautiful Things in the World

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"The most beautiful things in the world are the most useless."

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><p><strong>Notes:<strong> The beginning, exposition section of this chapter was written months ago when I randomly sat down with a blank screen and the intent to write something based off of Sonic 4 Episode 2, hence why it sorta reestablishes our cast a bit. However, I needed to seriously break the wall that was blocking me from writing this chapter, so I figured repurposing something dead and decaying would be good enough to kick start my brain.

Because of my timeline, which only makes sense in my head, S4E2 happens before Adventure, but after the events of Sonic CD, so the Classics have yet to trot through, while the Moderns haven't been in a while. (Has your brain imploded yet?) And, because Sonic's been to so many Zones and on so many adventures in the past few years, we're going to pretend that he's forgotten all about Sylvania Castle, okay? Okay. (I probably could have not mentioned any of this and all of you people would have just read it and been like "Oh, that was great. There was nothing wrong." and I would have just smiled and went on with my life. Woe is me.)

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><p>The air was crisp, with an insignificant chill hovering as a small reminder that winter was steadfast in its fight against spring. The sky was a clear blue during the day, untouched by pollution. Though, for now, it was a pitch black, small stars twinkling from between the lazily floating clouds.<p>

The area was deserted by all but the feral animals. Toppled ruins spoke of a long-gone – though possibly powerful – civilization, the vegetation crawling far enough up the walls to hint that these blocks of stone had been sitting dormant for a great while. Rounded spires added a testament to the weathering that took place, while the silence of the whole Zone indicated a deep stillness, unlike anything any modern people had ever experienced.

The only sentient creatures in the whole of the Zone were two odd looking, bipedal Mobians. They were arranged around a small fire, the flames dim in the darkness, used more for light than warmth. One, a golden, doubly tailed fox kit – no more than four or five years old – was lying on his stomach, his white tipped tails arranged around his body to hold in his body heat. He slept soundly, breath deep and muscles relaxed. His arms pillowed his head, while his legs twitched barely as a result of his dreams.

The other was a cobalt blue hedgehog. His spikes swooped lazily from his head, half-drooped out of exhaustion, while his whole form practically radiated fatigue. He was seated a few feet from the flames, facing away from them with knees bent and tucked into his chest. His arms were draped over his strong, blue limbs, while his chin was resting on the peach fuzz covering his arms. His emerald green eyes were gazing out at the landscape, somehow alert despite the weariness hugging his frame like a blanket, and he blinked slowly, taking a huge deep breath in through his nose.

Sonic the Hedgehog, a name known to almost every living soul on the planet, was not known for a penchant of sitting still. Instead, he was famous for his habit to always be moving, whether at a run or a simple tap of the foot, so the fact that he was sitting so completely motionless would have caused a sense of alarm to crop up in the general public. However, what one could not see, was that his mind was not sitting still; it was moving at impossible speeds.

He and his friend were perched on a small platform of ruins, just feet away from the lapping edge of the water. The fox's fur was puffy, signaling that the two had recently been for a swim, though the wild way that Sonic's eyes were roving hinted that it had not been a pleasant dip. The hedgehog was completely dry, despite the still slightly moist appearance of the kit, but he glared at the water with a face of contempt and loathing. He stared at it hard, as if wishing it would disappear in a puff of mist, but, instead, a fish darted by, seemingly mocking the hedgehog's inability to survive in the hostile environment like it could.

_Sylvania Castle Zone_… He thought to himself, the scorn obvious even in his thoughts. He had heard very little of this Zone before his arrival, because it had dropped out of history after the fall of the ancient hedgehog dynasty. The irony wasn't lost on him either, and his thoughts turned even harsher. _Figures it would be flooded…_

The apparent requirement for ruins was that they needed to be flooded. Aquatic Ruin Zone still haunted Sonic's dreams, and he hadn't set foot in that place in almost four years. The fact that Sylvania was half-submerged was not a surprise, though it still provided a small shock when Sonic saw the water for the first time. However, his nerves had steeled themselves long ago to the concept of leaping into some kind of possibly hedgehog-drowning substance (Chemical Plant and Hydrocity two big contributing factors to the hardened nerves), but that didn't mean that he was _fond_ of doing something that could probably kill him.

Add that to the fact that, when they had been trudging their way through the water, he and the child currently asleep had gotten separated from the other two people in their party – two beings almost identical to themselves. Some crazy current had gotten a hold of the younger version of the hedgehog, sweeping the rounder body away in the blink of an eye, and, without thinking, the elder fox had darted after him, allowing himself to be pulled along as well. When the other two – the elder Sonic and the younger Tails – had tried to follow, they realized, with a sinking feeling of dismay, that the path after the current ended branched in two different directions and they randomly chose one, as Sonic was getting low on air and needed to find a bubble in the next fifteen seconds or risk passing out. As it turned out, they had chosen incorrectly, and, when they tried to turn around, they realized that a wall had collapsed and there was no way for them to return.

So, they had continued forward with the feeble hope that the paths would converge somewhere up ahead and they could continue as a unit again. Eventually, when they made it up to land, Tails had practically collapsed out of exhaustion. The combined effort of swimming and pulling Sonic's heavy body through the water plus the stress of having watched his older brother get swept away had worn the kit out. One look at the sky had made the decision to camp for the night and Sonic had gotten to making a fire.

When he came back after finding some firewood, Tails was already snoozing. Sonic had sighed, stacked the logs, and rubbed two sticks together until they lit. By that time, it was nearly dark, so he decided to settle into the night, resulting in his current position.

He was ridged, leaning slightly away from the water like it would leap up and get him. His fear of water was deeply rooted in his psyche, something that prevented him from learning to swim and even taking long baths. So, he wasn't exactly ecstatic to be surrounded on all sides by the wet substance. His slightly twitching ear and glaring eyes were his only outward signs though, a result of long years of training on his part. A hero with a weakness was a serious problem, and, even though Eggman was quite in tune to Sonic's fear of water – as evidenced in his building of the Labyrinth Zone – Sonic wanted to keep it out of the public eye, if only to discourage a doubting community.

Across the fire, Tails twitched slightly in his sleep, mumbling something unintelligible under his breath. He turned onto his belly, consequently burying his face into the dirt and snorting when his nose clogged. Sonic chuckled and rose to his feet to turn the fox over, but when he touched his shoulder, Tails shuddered and Sonic sighed. He was cold. He set himself back down beside the fox and easily pulled the four year old into his lap, watching with a smile as he wrapped his tails around his body.

Sonic had no idea how long they sat like that before he eventually dozed off, letting his head fall to his chest and his ears droop. The combined effort of his fear and the sluggish trot through the water had done a number on his muscles and he could almost feel the fatigue in his bones, so he allowed his body to slum forward, around the sleeping fox kit. He convinced himself that he was adding protection to the child's prone form, but still took solace from the slow, deep breathing of his young charge, allowing himself to be lulled by it. Seconds later, he was gone into dreamland, his arms clutching instinctually around the small body resting peacefully in his lap.

Unbeknownst to either of them, they were being watched by a cloaked figure, high above them on an upper level. It grunted to itself as it watched them fall asleep before disappearing in a wash of blue.

o0o

Across the Zone and on a higher level, away from any type of water, two very similar beings sat across an identical fire. Neither was sleeping, however, and they both just stared into the flames, as if trying to divine the answer to all of life's questions from the blaze.

The ten year old hedgehog and thirteen year old fox had had a completely different journey than the two still on the lakefront. After eventually getting free of the stronger current, they had climbed their way up to a higher level, Tails actually grabbing and flying the hedgehog for the last leg of the journey. Once on the higher platform, they had sat in silence for a while, attempting to figure out what to do next and mulling over their clouded thoughts.

Sonic had been worried about Tails – his Tails. He hoped to Chaos above that he had stayed with the green-eyed hedgehog. He could protect the little guy until they found each other again, but, if they somehow got separated… He shook his head, taking solace from the fact that Tails' older self was with him, so he obviously survived his ordeal, though the thought wasn't as much comfort as he had hoped it would be.

The teenaged fox, for his part, had sat and fretted over his own brother. He knew that Sonic wasn't a swimmer, and he had a sinking feeling that the tinnier fox would be unable to tow the hedgehog through the water. Plus, he couldn't fly nearly as long then as he could now… He stopped those thoughts, instead deciding to turn to the hedgehog sitting near him.

"We should get going," he had mumbled, watching for the blue one's reaction. The speedster had simply nodded before jerking to his feet, like he was a robot. They easily traversed the upper area before they came upon another lake, this one much deeper than the previous one, and Sonic glared at it with a mixed expression of trepidation and frustration. It was too large for him to dart across, even if he had a decent run up, and Tails was too tired to fly him all the way across, so he was forced to swallow his fears and jump in. Tails would have been happy to go swimming, though he seemed a little apprehensive when he saw the look on Sonic's face. Sonic had been forced to grimace encouragingly at his friend and then consequently ignore the concerned look Tails sent him, instead choosing to plug his nose and jump into the water. Again.

The initial plunge had been like a sucker punch to the chest. The water seemingly yawned open in front of him, not hesitating to envelope him like a Venus Fly Trap welcoming its prey. He slammed into the water, all of the air in his lungs being driven out by the blast of _cold_ that accompanied the dive. Then, in the stupidest move of the century, he had gasped, further expelling his supply of oxygen. After the few seconds, Sonic had expended all of his air, and could feel himself sinking.

Confusion and panic set in after that, resulting in an underwater dance of flailing arms and legs. Tails was forced to dodge around the flying appendages with smooth strokes of his limbs. His swimming ability was mainly derived from his feral ancestry, resulting in the best doggy paddle nature had to offer, and he hovered around the slowly sinking hedgehog, unable to get close without risking being hit in the head.

Soon enough, Sonic managed to limply drop to the bottom, where he rested on his side, barely being pushed sideways by a hidden current. His flailing had stopped and his vision was just starting to blacken around the edges.

However, before he could pass out completely, Tails grabbed his arm and towed him up to the top of a nearby platform, where a geyser of air was slowly bubbling. Sonic felt his eyes go wide at the sight of the godsend air and he somehow managed to get to his feet in the sluggish nonsolid surrounding him. He trudged his way to the air pocket with languid movements, wishing for the _n_th time that he knew how to swim. When he arrived at the bubbles, he waited impatiently for a big enough one to escape and, when it appeared, wasted no time shoving his head into it, wrapping his arms forward as if scooping it into his mouth. Immediate relief. His mind cleared and he was able to comprehend what exactly was going on around him. He even prided himself on the fact that he barely jumped when Tails gasped as he took in his own bubble.

Once they both had successfully filled their lungs, they set off again. Tails was forced to tow Sonic past multiple spike and arrow traps, most likely activated by the large amount of Chop-Chop badniks swimming around. Sonic destroyed every one they came across, but they both agreed later that they probably barely put a dent in the overall amount of robots in the water.

Eventually, through more luck and providence than design, Sonic managed to find a dash panel and it pushed him completely out of the water and onto the highest level of the Zone, away from all of the water. He landed on his feet and watched as Tails flew up to join him. Then, with a shared look of silent agreement, they both collapsed into the soft, green grass.

Ultimately, Tails left to find some wood, and Sonic didn't question where it came from when he got back, just simply went about the motions of coaxing a flame to life. His eventual success brought them to their current position. Conversation was nonexistent between the two – despite their closeness in age – and both just simply sat in stoic silence, waiting for the sun to break over the horizon so they could start again.

With the fire crackling between them, the air was temperate and calming. The stillness of the Zone was barely disturbed by the fireflies barely floating around, caught in a silent dance with the barest of winds. Tails noiselessly reached toward one and it bobbed around his fingers for a few seconds before darting away.

"It's really peaceful out here," the fox mumbled, breaking the silence in a voice that tried to be quiet but failed, simply because the hovering hush was almost ancient. "Untouched by everything."

"Hump," the blue hedgehog huffed, crossing his arms and squinting into the fire, "it feels like Mystic Ruins to me – deserted."

Tails looked at the hedgehog intently, trying to gauge his mood from his expression. His face was closed off, almost void of emotion as he gazed at the flames, yet the barest twitch of his ear coupled with the way the edges of his mouth were straining downward told Tails all he needed to know. Sonic was agitated, probably from a combination of stress, worry, and the water.

"The Mystic Ruins are more… spiritual, more steeped in mysticism and Chaos Energy," the fox replied, making sure to watch Sonic's expression. "The whole place practically vibrates when Knuckles lands Angel Island where it belongs, like it's welcoming the Master Emerald home or something, while this place is just… _dead_. There're plants and feral animals and stuff, but it seems like it's trapped in the past, unable to grow or change with the rest of the world…"

The hedgehog looked up and stared at the fox, trying to figure out exactly what he was getting at. "Yeah, well, there's a reason no one comes around here anymore," he practically spat, his face twisting into a small expression of disgust. "I can't believe we followed some wild goose chase and jumped at the first word that the last Emerald was here." He scowled. "This place may be peaceful and still and tranquil or whatever nice adjectives you want to give it, but it's still deserted, and for good reason from what I've seen. Sure, it's beautiful and relaxing, but so was Emerald Hill."

Tails flinched away from his friend like he had been slapped, though he managed to school his wounded expression into one of stoic vagueness. "Emerald Hill was different," he argued, unsure why he felt like he needed to defend Sylvania against his home Zone, "the people there made it miserable, not the Zone itself."

Sonic resisted the urge to roll his eyes and he just waved his hand flippantly. "Well, whatever the case, beauty doesn't automatically equal safety or kindness. I mean, look at this place. It's gorgeous, clean air and everything, but it's full of pitfalls, huge lakes, and crumbling ruins. One misstep and you could end up with a concussion or worse. Personally, I think all of this tranquility is deadly."

"The most beautiful things in the world are the most useless, would you say, Sonic?" A new voice cut in before Tails could reply, and both Mobians whipped toward the source, Sonic even going so far as to get to his feet.

A cloaked form was hovering behind them, nearly invisible in the darkness. It floated with its arms extended from its sides, palms cupped toward the sky. Barely, they could see a small glint of something under the long sleeves of the cloak and they shared a look. The figure quickly looked at the both of them before dropping into the grass in front of them, the fire immediately throwing strange shadows across his hooded face.

"However," the strange visitor continued when neither Tails nor Sonic offered a clever response to his question, "I'll have to disagree with you, Sonic." He – the voice was distinctly male – held out his right hand and the cloak fell away, revealing a pulsing spark of light resting in his palm.

"The last Chaos Emerald!" Despite himself, Tails couldn't help but gasp, reaching out as if to grab it. However, Sonic jumped in front of him, blocking his pass.

"Yes, a Chaos Emerald," the other replied, the barest hints of a smile flickering across the visible expanse of his face, "one of the most beautiful things in the universe, and yet, as Sonic knows, also one of the most useful. If there's one thing I've learned from my studies, it's that the Chaos Emeralds can control planets if they wanted to, yet they choose to bow to your whim…"

Sonic ignored him, instead glancing over his shoulder at the taller fox behind him. "We don't know who this guy is. Don't touch his Emerald."

"But, Soni-!"

"No Tails," the hedgehog cut in, waving his hand out in a smooth slice to emphasize his words. "It could be a fake. Who knows what'll happen if we bring a fake around the real ones?"

"But, Sonic," the fox pressed again, pushing past the hero, "I know these gloves; I know who this is." He leveled a gaze at the cloaked figure, but he didn't get a good look because the fire was almost completely dead. With the barest hint of a sigh, he trudged off toward the flames and tossed a log into it, watching as Sonic stalked up to the taller male, gazing up into the hooded face.

"What're you doing here?" the hedgehog demanded when he finally managed to get a good enough look to place the face. "And where did you get an Emerald?"

The other male sighed before reaching up and dragging the hood away from his head, his quills practically springing up once they were freed. His amber eyes were filled with amusement even though he was currently being glared into submission by the smaller blue form in front of him and his silver-white fur practically glowed in the combined light of the moon and fire. He grinned at the younger Mobian, his teeth glinting harshly.

"I found it, same as you always do."

Sonic's eyes narrowed suspiciously at that, but there was no other possible argument he could make, so he simply held his gloved hand out with a sigh, and, when the metallic colored hedgehog stared at him stupidly, curled his fingers in a helpful motion. The taller Mobian seemed to catch the drift and he easily dropped the gem into Sonic's hand.

The blue hedgehog's eyes flickered between a strange half-green-half-dark color for a few seconds before he nodded once, gazing into the depths of the gray Emerald. It was cloudy, almost stormy with power, but it still shone like it had a miniature star trapped in its depths. With a sigh, he tore his eyes away and spoke while he was securing the stone in his quills. "It's real," he let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. "We have all seven…"

"Of course it's real," Silver sniffed, his tenor somehow haughty and betrayed at the same time. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Sonic sent the other hedgehog the flattest look he could muster. "Excuse me for not trusting you, Future Boy," he huffed, crossing his arms. "The last time you talked to me, you were being all mysterious and mystic and telling me that I was destined to go dark because I was caught in the future."

Tails' head jerked up at that. "Silver told you _what_?" he demanded, climbing clumsily to his feet. Sonic stared at him stupidly, unable to formulate a response fast enough before Tails rounded on Silver. "You told him _what_?"

"I told him the truth, Tails," the metallic hedgehog answered, running a hand through his quills, "and it came to pass, didn't it?"

"You see, this is what I'm talking about," Sonic sighed, holding his hand toward Silver in indication, his face twisting into a small sneer.

However, Silver didn't hear him, as he was suddenly assaulted by twenty kilograms of fox kit. Tails stomped right up to him, reached up, and yanked the hood of his cloak down over his eyes before shoving him backwards, his strength shocking both himself and the time-traveler. The only thing that saved the hedgehog from taking a fall over the side of the ledge was his quick use of his telekinesis to hover instead of drop. "What the heck?!" both Sonic and Silver demanded at the same time, Sonic shocked that his future-little brother could act so harshly and Silver surprised at the sudden retaliation.

"You _knew_ that Sonic would turn dark!" Tails yelled, his tone more accusing than questioning. "Do you have any idea what that _meant_?!"

"I've seen the pictures," Silver defended, throwing his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture as he allowed his feet to sink back into the soft grass. "That's why I warned Sonic!"

"You warned the _wrong Sonic_!" Tails replied harshly, his hands fisting at his sides. "_This _Sonic," he waved his hands toward the still-shocked face of the past incarnation of the hedgehog, "didn't even get _close_ to going dark. _My_ Sonic, however, went totally dark – so dark that I was sure we'd lost him!" Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes as memories of that horrible day in Eggman's base hit him at full blast.

"But…" Silver's eyes widened as the implications of what the fox had said dawned completely on him, "_this_ Sonic was the one that was supposed to go dark, not the other one! What happened? The younger Tails was supposed to be knocked out and the anger should have grown inside of _him_. He has less control over his emotions than the older Sonic does…"

"_I_ was knocked out, Silver," Tails barked, hands grabbing at his head, "not the younger me! I don't know what you think you're playing with, coming to the future to 'warn' us of things, but if you're gonna keep doing it, at least get your facts straight." Then, the fight seemed to seep out of the fox and he sunk to the ground, his namesakes going limp around his legs. "You could have saved us a lot of trouble…"

"But, don't you _see_," Silver questioned, his tone demanding that they listen to him. The only response he got was a twitch of the ears from the fox and a glare from the other hedgehog, "when I left my time, history said that the younger Sonic went dark, but now things are different! That means that you might not fail against Dr. Eggman after all!"

"_What_?" Sonic hissed, his dark eyes narrowing even further.

Suddenly, Silver's face puckered as he realized what he had said. "Uh, I mean…"

"You know what?" Sonic started, throwing his hands up, "I'm tired of hearing all of this 'future' crap. So far, I haven't needed to know what was coming for me to get the job done and stop Robotnik, and I don't need to start changing that now."

"Look, I'm sorry," Silver apologized, hands twitching like he was itching to reach out toward the smaller hedgehog. "I can't just sit on the sidelines when I know that I can change things for the better. You _need_ to succeed for Mobius to survive."

"Don't you think I know that?" the ten-year-old demanded, his voice slightly distorted as he darted up to the other hedgehog in a flash of blue. "I _know_ that the future of basically everything rests on my shoulders! I _get_ it. I don't need you reminding me!" He gasped, as if his outburst had used up all of his energy and seemed to turn into himself. "Everyone's depending on me, and I'm not sure I can save them all. I'm only one person."

"But, Sonic…" Tails seemed to have come out of his self-imposed pity-party and had padded up to the small hedgehog. "You're not one person, not right now. There's two of you." He paused to send his friend a wink. "Besides, you've got me – both of me. You're not alone yet."

"I know Tails," the hero sighed, not feeling very brave despite the fox's still-apparent hero worship. That seemed all he could say on the matter however, because he turned to Silver, his expression restrained to a simple stare. "If you want to be a real help, you'd be able to tell us where the others are."

"I can do one better," the other hedgehog replied, raising his suddenly glowing hands. Without warning, a light blue aura surrounded the other two Mobians and they floated off of the ground, each giving a startled yelp. "I can take you to them."

Then, in a great wash of blue, the three figures disappeared, the fire distinguishing itself in a puff of azure as they vanished.

o0o

All was silent around the dark blue hedgehog and four year old fox. Both were still sleeping when their three friends flashed into existence, two of them dropping to the ground as soon as they were let loose of Silver's strange power – Tails even going so far as to faceplant into the grass.

"Don't ever do that again," Sonic ordered simply, pointing at Silver as he struggled to his feet. His knees were a little wobbly, but he managed to stumble over to the future version of himself and he shook the dark blue shoulder of the other hedgehog once before falling to sit in front of him. Bright green eyes flickered open and his arms tightened around the sleeping fox instinctually when his senses picked up the presence of others. However, once he caught sight of his younger self, he relaxed, a small smile worming its way across his face.

"Sup, Little Blue?" He yawned, shifting the small child in his lap a bit. "How'd you find us?"

The younger scowled. "We had some help from Silver."

"Silver's here?" A dark blue head moved as if to look, but the kit chose that moment to stir and look up.

"Sawnik?" he asked, his word disrupted slightly by a yawn.

"Yup, it's me little bro. Go back to sleep," the ten year old soothed, smiling a bit when Tails looked up at him with huge, shining eyes.

"Mkay," the tiny golden form hummed as he snuggled impossibly lower into the cocoon of the hedgehog's folded legs.

Once he was comfortably snoring again, the two hedgehogs shared a grin before the younger reached back into his quills and produced the gray Emerald for his older self's inspection. "Silver gave us the seventh Emerald; said he found it here."

Macro-Sonic stared at it for a few seconds before he heaved a deep sigh of relief. He turned his head toward the metallic time traveler, and he watched with mirth as he poked the elder fox in the side of the head and Tails' return retaliation of a swipe with his right hand, almost hitting the hedgehog. Silver stumbled backward a few steps before catching sight of Tails' smirk and chuckling a bit.

"Thanks Silver," the green-eyed hedgehog called, nodding toward him. He returned the nod and turned back to Tails, offering the fox a hand to help him up. "Now all we have to do," Sonic continued, looking back at his younger incarnation, "is find Shadow and get him to hand over his Emerald and then head up to Angel Island. Tikal told you the Master Emerald would tell us what to do next, right?"

The smaller nodded. "Yup," he answered, heaving a large sigh a few seconds later.

"What's up, little me?" Sonic asked of his younger self, reading his expression like a book.

"Nothing that can't wait until morning," came the reply with the wave of a gloved hand. "For now, let's all get some rest so we can get out of here."

The older looked at him for a few more seconds before he eventually nodded. "Alright," he conceded before shooting a look at his little brother. "C'mere kid," he called and the fox promptly padded over. "Good job earlier," he grinned at his best friend, sending him his patented thumbs up. When the thirteen year old sent him a confused look, he elaborated, "jumping and following Little Blue when he got in over his head. I'm proud of you."

A smile broke out across his face. "Thanks Sonic."

"I don't know about you guys," the twenty year old continued after nodding toward his kid brother, "but I'm beat. Let's get some sleep, okay?"

Three resounding affirmatives answered him and the camp was plunged into silence minutes later as all present got as comfortable as they could in the thick grass.

In the morning, Sylvania Castle Zone was allowed to return to its former stillness, as if the small group had never disturbed it in the first place.

* * *

><p><em>Readers, meet Silver the Plot Device. Silver the Plot Device, meet the readers. Now, make nice, and no trying to kill someone because they're supposed to cause the destruction of the future. That's not kosher.<em>

_I see your Timeline Crumbling and raise it with one Silver the Hedgehog. Ha._

_Ahem. As of _Generations,_ Silver could teleport (and/or Chaos Control, depending on your preference), and I took that to mean that he could go back and forth between the past and the present (future). I mean, if Sonic can get better (fight Chaos without being Super Sonic and simply run up the side of the clock tower in Spagonia) then I assume that Silver can too. Everyone's gotta learn new tricks. (On a side note, I apologize if Silver was OOC. I haven't practiced nearly enough on him.) Also, a bunch of Silver's knowledge over Dark Sonic comes from his 'studies' (aka high school), and he knows more about Sonic than he lets on. I apologize if I didn't make that clear enough in the prose._

_Also, Chip's at the Workshop, holding down the fort. I didn't forget about him… Not at all… _

_Seems I might have unintentionally referenced _Rising Star_… Just goes to show how ingrained that story is in my psyche. Credit for that little Easter egg goes to JudasFm._

_Well, we've darted right past that 150 review mark! Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts in a review! _

_Also, this story has some new fanart! What?! Links up on my profile. _

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_Reviews are cherished._


	38. Only the Shallow Know Themselves

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Only the shallow know themselves."

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> We're chuggin', chuggin' right along to the top. Soon enough, we'll reach the peak…

* * *

><p>Shadow was a lot of things, but afraid wasn't one of them.<p>

Nevertheless, even he couldn't help but try to get away when attacked. He was never afraid. He just acted out of self-preservation, not fear.

His small bout of delusion was cut short as Dr. Eggman shot at him again, clipping the quills on his back. He made a sound that was most definitely not a yelp, and dove forward, throwing his hands over his head in a feeble attempt to protect his skull. Dirt rained down around and on top of him and he grunted to himself as he rolled to the left when he heard the high pitched whine of the canon discharging again. Seconds later, the bright bolt of white slammed into the ground right where he had just previously been cowering, making his fur crackle at the close proximity.

Quickly, he reached behind his back and dug the yellow Emerald from between his quills. Still dodging Eggman's attacks, he focused on the Energy radiating from the gem and narrowed his eyes in preparation for Chaos Control.

However, before he could flicker away, the human's weapon slammed into the middle of his chest, knocking yhe wind out of his lungs and sending him crashing onto his back, the Emerald flying out of his grasp. It skittered away, rolling over itself, before stopping a few feet away.

Shadow wasn't too concerned with the Emerald however. He was preoccupied by the giant black hole of pain sitting right where he had been hit. He curled in on himself, imitating an actual hedgehog, and gasped out a very nasty word, before gritting his teeth and struggling to stand.

He only got as far as his knees before the gun fired again. He barely dodged this time, throwing himself – and grunting when his chest protested - to the right and rolling once before using his momentum to get completely to his feet. He could feel himself weakening with every step he took, his breath coming quicker than he was used to and his vision swimming in a way that was almost alien to him, and he knew that he didn't have a chance against the human unless he could get his hands on that Emerald.

Swiftly, he jerked his whole body to the left, darting back the way he had come, his sharp eyes searching for the yellow gem in the dark of dawn. He easily found it and swooped down to grab it, immediately trying to do Chaos Control as soon as his hands wrapped around it.

However the Emerald simply sparked against his gloved palm, unable to flood his system with Energy and transport him, as if something was blocking it. He skidded to a stop, uncaring that Eggman's machine was right behind him, and stared stupidly down at his fisted hand, trying to understand what was going on.

"Hoho, Shadow!" Doctor Eggman crowed in a voice he usually saved for Sonic. "Unable to use that Emerald to save yourself? How unfortunate – for you!" He cackled, throwing his head back and slamming his hands down, fingers splayed on the control panel of the Egg-O-Matic. The machine looked no differently than it usually did, but, somehow, it could fire off a beam of bright energy, as if it had a canon shoved into its interior

"Save that simpering tone for Sonic, doctor," Shadow hissed, pressing a hand to his chest. "You do not scare me."

"Of course," the human agreed, waving off his adversary, "nothing scares my grandfather's great Ultimate Lifeform…" He trailed off before leaning forward and grinning a grin so huge, Shadow could almost see the remnants of the man's last meal, "until now." He laughed again, though it was a bit more controlled this time.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, human," Shadow said simply in a low, dark tone, his eyes somehow flat and fiery at the same time.

"Perhaps…" Eggman retorted, waving his hand again, "perhaps not." He smiled forebodingly at the black creation. "I know what _I'm_ capable of, however."

"Only the shallow know themselves," Shadow retorted, clenching his hand impulsively around the Emerald as he looked down at it. "What is it that you seek, doctor?" He moved the yelled conversation back on track, disliking how his vision was starting to darken around the edges.

"Why, the huge amount of Chaos Energy inside of your body!" the human yelled, sweeping his hand out in a grand gesture toward the black and red figure. "You are the final piece in my plan! The lynchpin as it were; you should feel honored."

"Excuse me while I gather my glee," came the clipped, flat reply.

"The beam that I've been shooting at you sucks the Chaos Energy out of anything that it touches, including carbon-based life forms!" The human ignored Shadow's sharp response and plowed forward. "Right now, I'm sure you can feel the effects… The hole in your chest, the weakness in your limbs, the swimming vision… Soon enough, all of your energy will be depleted and I will just have to collect your unconscious body! The Emerald will just be a bonus prize!"

Ignoring the human's maniacal laughter, Shadow forced his eyes to leave their widened position, schooling his features into a blank face. His mind was whirling though, trying to figure out how to get away and save himself, but, he couldn't deny the pain that was radiating from his chest, eating away at his energy reserves. His Inhibitor Rings hummed as they tried to hold back the sucking force, but even they were failing to keep his inner balance in check, and he could feel his limbs getting heavier and his eyelids drooping dangerously low… His priorities shifted. He needed to get the Emerald to Sonic. As much as he hated the faker, he knew how to control the Emeralds, and he was pretty sure that they had the other six at this point. Besides, the hedgehog having it was better than the human getting his grubby hands on it.

Shadow's mind ticked over possible ways to get the gem to the Mystic Ruins. It wasn't that far away – just through Station Square and over the canal… Suddenly, his eyes widened and he jerked to the right, ignoring Eggman for a few seconds. A pair of bright green eyes stared at him from the bushes, and he immediately knew what he needed to do.

Gritting his teeth, he darted away, activating his shoes as he went. The jets powered on, propelling him forward much faster than he could have on his own, and he skated away, putting as much distance as he could between Eggman and himself. The owner of the eyes followed him, sprinting at full speed a few feet behind him. Eventually, when they were far enough away, the artificial creation bent down and held the Emerald out to his companion. It stared up at him with huge, confused eyes, and he offered it a small, reassuring smile.

"It's alright. I need you to take this to the Mystic Ruins…" An incomprehensive stare answered him. "Take this to Sonic…" he floundered for a few seconds before his mind kicked back on and he smiled again. "Tails, you remember Tails?"

The eyes brightened and the feline quickly darted forward and latched its jaws around the point of the gemstone, somehow managing to keep a hold of the smooth surface. Shadow sighed thankfully when it left his possession.

His ears quirked as the distinct sound of jets met them. – Eggman was getting closer. Quickly, he reached under the cat's collar and pulled out a small square of folded paper – stashed there for instances such as this – and yanked a pen from nowhere from his quills. Hastily, he scribbled a message before shoving the paper back where he had found it. He then shooed the cat away with a "Go, Mr. Snuffles. Stay safe." and it sped off at full speed, moving through the underbrush with ease and grace.

Shadowed watched the cat run off and then turned to face the egg-shaped human, his face determined. Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform would not go down without a fight, no matter how weak or disadvantaged he was. He was not afraid of anything, especially Dr. Eggman.

o0o

…_Six hours later…_

"Since when does this place have a sign that says 'Camp Sonic' out in front?" a twenty year old voice demanded as its owner threw himself across the couch, draping his legs carelessly on the lap of his younger self, who had been relaxing on said couch all morning. The smaller hedgehog scowled and pushed at the blue appendages, sending them falling to the floor, though the elder simply replaced them seconds later. A tiny sigh.

"Technically, it should say 'Camp Tails,'" the elder fox corrected as he slammed a tray of refreshments on the coffee table a little too forcefully. "This is _my _workshop_._" He grabbed two soda cans off the tray and tossed them toward the two hedgehogs, who both easily caught them. "And, I'm the one that has to constantly run into Station Square to keep getting supplies, because certain individuals feel like they need to eat me out of house and home."

The elder hedgehog hummed his agreement while he easily flicked his index finger on the top of the can before opening it with a smooth _crack_ and taking a gulp. His younger counterpart did the same, though his efforts were rewarded with a spray of brown liquid hitting him in the face. He scowled down at his can before setting his future incarnation with a glare that read 'how do you do that?'. Sonic shrugged at the smaller hedgehog, his grin a mile wide. "Age and practice, young grasshopper," he chuckled, watching as a drop of soda dripped off the ten year old's black nose.

"I'm sorry if we're intruding, Tails," the younger Knuckles offered, ignoring the hedgehogs' sidebar, "but Shadow's abduction has got us all on edge."

"Yeah, whatever," Tails sighed as he spun on his heel and marched out of the room, his back rigged and his tails whipping.

Sonic took a deep gulp of his drink before sending a sharp glare at the echidna sitting on the floor. "Really Knux, what's wrong with Angel Island? Not safe enough for you all of the sudden?"

"Look," the elder red one cut in, passing his younger self a meaningful look, "this is _Shadow_ we're talking about. The fact that Eggman got _him_ would make anyone worry. Angel Island floats above the planet; imagine what would happen if the human decided he wanted the Master Emerald. If he managed to take out Shadow, even with two of me, we'd be pretty screwed. Then, Angel Island would fall to the surface and possibly squash a few innocent people."

"Man, Knuckles, way to have faith in your abilities," the younger hedgehog retorted, hiding his smile behind his drink.

"I'm just being realistic, hedgehog!" both echidnas snapped as one, their eyes flashing dangerously. "I mean, I know it's a trait that you don't possess, but it would do you some good to think that way sometimes." the elder finished, rolling his eyes.

"Being realistic is overrated," the twenty year old replied, rolling his eyes and sinking lower into the couch cushions, inadvertently shoving even more of his legs onto his younger self. "Besides, you're giving Shadow too much credit. Faker relies too much on Chaos Control. If he knew how to _run_ and get out of messy situations, he probably wouldn't be in trouble now."

Knuckles looked ready to retort, but Sonic cut him off by throwing the rest of his drink back, twisting his upper body toward the back of the couch, and lobbing the can toward the opposite side of the room. It hit its intended target dead on, bouncing off a metallic colored skull with a hollow sound. "What about you Silver?" the hedgehog questioned with an easy smile, oblivious to Silver's dangerous mutterings or the way he was rubbing his head. "What are you still doing here?"

"I'm here to ensure that the events of this time period follow the predetermined timeline so that the futu-" He was cut off.

"And, Blaze is here." Sonic grinned toward his younger self, shoving his two hands together to create a heart shape. The smaller hedgehog returned the smile and leaned back so he could peer at Silver around the side of the couch, his eye ridges raised suggestively.

The hedgehog from the future reddened, and he ducked his head, hiding his blushing cheeks. Seconds later, a purple face popped into their field of vision, her eyes glaring.

"Quit it, Sonic," she ordered, resting a hand on Silver's head to calm him. Somehow, his face managed to plunge into a deeper shade of red. "Silver just wants to help."

"Sure, sure," the elder hedgehog waved off Blaze's admonishment, his grin somehow widening. "But, seriously, don't you guys have your own place to stay at? Tails is going to have a heart attack if we spill something on the carpet in here again."

"To be fair," a deep voice muttered, and everyone present turned to watch as Espio flickered into view next to the echidnas, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, "the last time it happened, it was Tails' fault."

"_I heard that_!" A thirteen year old voice filtered in from the next room. "And it _was not_ my fault!"

Espio didn't show emotion very often, but Sonic seriously thought he saw exasperation float across the chameleon's features, though he could have been imaging things. "Your younger self," came his simple answer.

Tails must have ignored him, because he didn't answer after that, and the sound of the door to the Workshop slamming sounded a few seconds later. Eventually, the little incarnation of the fox wandered in, and he settled himself on the floor with his back against his older brother's legs. The younger hedgehog didn't seem happy about that.

"So," the adolescent hedgehog started after an awkward silence, "what are we gonna do about Shadow?"

"Right now, we're waiting for Mechanic's scopes to pick up where Eggman is so we can go get him," Tiny Tails answered, leaning his head back so he could look up at his big brother.

"How'd you find out anyway?" Sonic asked of his older self, satisfied with Tails' answer.

"Rouge," was the simple response, and the elder shifted, accidentally kicking the ten year old in the stomach. "She said that G.U.N. sent her to get him for a mission or something and he was gone. Can't find him anywhere."

Little Sonic made a show of wiggling his way free from his older self's legs, pushing Tails out of the way in the process, before replying. "How can we be sure that Robotnik got him?" As he spoke, the four year old sent him an acidic look and crawled onto the newly vacated cushion, ignoring the annoyed sound the elder hedgehog made. "I mean, from what I've heard about G.U.N., they're not exactly the best at keeping track of Shadow…"

"We can't," came the clipped reply, and the twenty year old leaned down, grabbed the small fox around the middle, and hoisted him up so he was sitting on his stomach. He then replaced his legs onto the couch, this time unhindered by the body of a past incarnation, "which is why I don't understand why everyone who doesn't belong here decided to set up camp in my living room."

"Do you want to go over this again, hedgehog?" Knuckles replied, finally getting annoyed enough to stand up and tower over the horizontal hedgehog on the couch in a play of strength. Sonic simply smirked at him with an eye ridge raised, his hand moving to rest on the head of the younger version of his little brother. The fox relaxed into the touch, gaining protection from the strong hand – behind him, little Sonic scowled and threw himself onto the vacant recliner, crossing his arms in the process. "We're here because there's something up, and I'd rather have Angel Island on the surface when it explodes in your smug, blue face."

Sonic raised his hands in a placating gesture, though the meaning was lost when his smirk deepened. "Okay, Knux, jeeze, don't worry yourself into a coma."

"Can I add something?" Silver offered, and Sonic waved his hand over the back of the sofa to give him permission. "Even if G.U.N. isn't that good at tracking Shadow, you should still be concerned that Rouge told you about it. That means that she couldn't find him either."

The whole room was struck silent at the time traveler's words, and Sonic whistled through his teeth. "Good point, Silver."

A crashing sound cut off whatever reply the metallic hedgehog was going to make, and Sonic sat up quickly – albeit carefully to keep from upending the fox still lazing on his stomach – his ears at the ready. He barely caught sight of something flash past the kitchen window before Tails darted out of the Workshop and yanked open the side door.

"Tails…" Sonic called, tone masking something that the rest of the room couldn't quite identify, "what was that?" The hedgehog carefully placed the four year old on the floor so he could rise, and he zipped toward the kitchen, halting in the doorway.

Suddenly, a streak of black and white exploded out of the kitchen. It tackled Sonic's face and did a very nice impression of an Olympic gymnast as it used his muzzle for a spring board, sending the hedgehog crashing to the ground as his center of balance was thrown off. He slammed into the floor roughly, enabling his attacker to dart into the den, straight toward the little fox.

Tails squealed when the blur reached him, knocking him over as well. However, he wrapped his arms around the assailant and giggled, struggling upwards so he could sit. The small attacker was revealed to be a black and white cat and it was currently rubbing the side of its face against the child's face, purring so loudly that Silver and Blaze could hear it across the room.

"Mr. Snuffles!" Tiny Tails called happily, hugging the feline close. "What're you doing here?!"

"I thought I got rid of that thing," Sonic mumbled into his glove as he rubbed his face. He accepted Tails' offered hand and allowed the fox to pull him to his feet, nodding toward Chip when he noticed the small god floating above Tails' shoulder.

"Shoving it off on Shadow does not count as 'getting rid of,' Sonic." Knuckles was still a little hurt that the blue one had tossed his present to Tails away like that, and his tone portrayed as much.

Sonic chose to ignore him completely, instead rounding on Macro-Tails. "Why'd you let it into the house?"

Tails shrugged. "She had _this_ in her mouth," he dug a hand into his tails and produced the yellow Chaos Emerald for all to see, making Sonic's fur echo the color from the close proximity, "and she looked so very sad… You've always taught me not to let people suffer."

"The cat isn't a person." Sonic sniffed, snatching the gem out of the fox's hand to look at it. He pointedly ignored the affronted sound that Blaze made. "Well, this is it. Shadow's Emerald. Why did she- Wait. Did you say _she_?"

The blue eyed vulpine nodded. "Yup. Mr. Snuffles is a girl cat."

A sudden peal of laughter sounded from the den and the elder hedgehog turned in time to see his younger self rub the four year old on the head. "Good naming Tailsy. I bet she appreciates that."

The child didn't reply, as he was too far gone in kitty giddiness.

The elder fox padded into the room, Chip following and dropping himself on top of the four year old's head and leaning toward the cat, careful to keep himself out of swiping reach. Sonic followed at a subdued pace, the yellow gem weighing heavily in his hand.

"What was she doing with Shadow's Emerald?" he asked, placing his hands on his hips. Tails shrugged and dropped to his knees next to his younger self before reaching out a tentative hand to pet the cat. The feline leaned into the hand, pushing her nose between his fingers and gazing up at him with huge green eyes. Sonic huffed when he didn't get an answer. "How did she get here?"

"This might help." Tiny Tails had been running his fingers over the collar Shadow had on the cat while his future incarnation distracted her and they had caught on something under it. He held it up to his older self and the fox grabbed it.

"It's a note." Tails unfolded the paper, revealing Shadow's flowing script.

"Let me see that." Sonic snatched it away before Tails could read it and the fox scowled. The hedgehog's eyes quickly moved down the page and his scowl deepened the further he got. "I'll go get the Tornado started," he announced once he was finished. He shoved the note into Tails' surprised hands before turning on his heel and darting toward the Workshop.

"What's it say?" Mini-Sonic made a swipe for the note, but Tails anticipated it and held it out of his reach. The hedgehog glowered.

"Let me read it out loud," the fox commanded, ignoring the indignant snort Sonic made. "Dear Fakers," he spoke in his normal tenor, but something about the way it was written made him sound gruffer, almost exactly like Shadow. "I trust that Mr. Snuffles made it to you safely. I do not have much time, so I'd suggest that you hand this note to the fox so he can explain the big words to you." Tails chocked off with a half-cough-half-laugh – which was mirrored by almost everyone present. "Dr. Eggman has created a weapon that harvests Chaos Energy from living beings and I am his first target. I sent the Emerald to you – keep it safe. Do not come for me."

"…that's it?" Knuckles ventured into the silence that followed.

"Yeah…" Tails answered, passing the creased sheet to Sonic. The light blue hedgehog grabbed it and stared down at it, as if trying to find some hidden meaning.

"…why'd Sonic go start the Tornado?" the echidna asked again, his tone still confused.

"To go get Shadow," the ten year old answered before Tails could. "I don't know a lot about him, but I get that Eggman siphoning energy from him is a very bad thing. Those inhibitor rings hold back a bunch of it, right?"

"Yes," Tails nodded as he stood, making sure that the cat was securely in his younger self's hands. "Shadow is always taking in Chaos Energy, because of the way that he was created. If Eggman has a way to siphon it out of him, then he'll have an unlimited energy supply – way more than putting organic organisms inside his robots."

Knuckles looked sick at the idea and he glanced at his younger self before nodding. "You take Angel Island back into the sky," he told the young echidna. "I'll help get Shadow back."

Tails' face fell into a mixed expression of confusion and bemusement. "But, Knuckles, you never like to get roped into Sonic's 'schemes.'"

"There's something bigger than Eggman and Sonic going on this time, Tails." Knuckles shook his head, searching for the words to describe it. "Something's off; the Chaos is preparing for something big."

"The Gaia Energy is shifting too." Chip's soft voice spoke from where he was half suspended off of the four year old canine's head, one hand held out toward the cat as he teased it. "I can feel the core trying to align itself with something that I don't recognize. Chaos, Dark Gaia, and Tikal are trying to figure it out, but I can't help because I'm here." He sent them all a suffering smile. "Though, Tikal sends her support. She encourages you to go see the Master Emerald as soon as possible."

There was a loaded silence, barely punctuated by the sounds of Blaze and Silver as they padded toward the main group. Espio had disappeared a while ago, possibly to join Vector and Charmy and attempt to get a jump on finding Eggman. The hush was broken when the green eyed hero stomped his way back into the room.

"The _Tornado-2_ is fueled and locked into the slingshot." He sent a meaningful look towards his little brother and the fox nodded. He turned and left, mumbling about getting his aviator goggles and Sonic turned back to the rest of the room. "Knuckles, you're coming with us." It wasn't a question, and his tone held a knowing note, as if he had heard the conversation that just happened. "Blaze, Silver, I need you to help little Knux get all of the supplies for Tails' time travel machine onto Angel Island. If this goes south, T2 knows how to get it together and working, and I need you to make sure they get back to the past. Got it?"

"But-" The ten year old version of the hedgehog didn't know whether to be annoyed, angry, or confused.

"No buts, Little Blue," the older hedgehog cut across, watching as Silver and Blaze rushed toward the Workshop and Knuckles' younger self left the building out of the front door, slamming it shut with a formidable sound. "We can't take any chances. I've been talking to Tails about Chaos Energy and the timeline, and he agrees that we can't risk you sticking around for much longer." He grimaced. "I may not be a science freak like Tails, but even I can tell that if Eggman hits me with that machine, it'll affect you more than me if you're in the same time period. Chaos Energy flows backwards, which means that it'll never make it back you."

"You just expect us to go sit on Angel Island and twiddle our thumbs?!" the past incarnation demanded, his fur and quills rippling up in agitation.

"No, you need to protect the Master Emerald. It's more powerful than Shadow and me and Knuckles and Tails _combined_. Eggman knows that. He'll come for it soon enough." The hedgehog tossed the yellow Emerald to the light blue Mobian. "Take the Emeralds. Contact Tikal and see what she needs to tell you. Odds are, she won't talk to anyone else besides you."

The young male held his older self's green gaze for a few seconds, and they seemed to have a silent conversation – or rather, argument – before the smaller eventually wilted in defeat and nodded once. "Fine."

"Chip," Sonic turned to the small god, "you do what you need to do."

"I'll go with these guys," he waved his small hands toward the younger personas of the hedgehog and fox. "I would like to see the Master Emerald."

Tails chose that moment to rush back into the room, his goggles resting on his brow and a small tool belt in his hands. His sudden entrance startled the cat and she darted away. "T2," he started, dropping to his knees in front of the tiny fox, "I meant to give this to you a few days ago, but Sonic told me to wait." He sent an eye roll toward the twenty year old as he held the belt toward the child. "It has everything you'll need in case you need to put the Temporal Transporter together. It's almost completely finished – only needs calibration, which would have taken two months once I started it, but if you hook it to the Master Emerald and all seven Chaos Emeralds, it should only take minutes."

Tiny Tails reached out and ran his fingers over the tool belt, his eyes widening as they recognized all of the tools. "But, Mechanic… Are you sure I can…?"

"I _know_ you can, T2. You helped me design and build it. You know how it works just as well as I do. You _can_ do it." Quickly, he looped the belt around the fox's small hips, allowing it to rest there. "I believe in you."

Mini-Tails nodded once, crisply, tears pricking at his eyes, and he fisted his hands at his sides. The weight of the belt was comforting and he swallowed the ball in his throat. "I'll do my best." It came out as a whisper, but his voice didn't crack like he expected it to.

"That's all I ask." The teenager sent his childlike persona a thumbs up and he stood up, mussing the familiar bangs of his past self as he rose. "We're ready," he announced to Sonic, twisting so he could look at both hedgehogs at once.

Both blue mobians nodded once in response, and that small motion set the rest of the day in movement.

"Let's do it."

* * *

><p><em>You guys all probably thought Mr. Snuffles was just a gag, right? Kekekeke, not so! (The cat is from chapter 28, if you've forgotten.) <em>

_A year ago, I would have ended this chapter after the Shadow section, but now I know better. :p See how much I've grown. _

_I apologize for the giant wait. If you haven't been watching my tumblr (which is updated daily with random chapter snippets, reblogs, and news tidbits) or my deviantART account, then you don't know that I've been dealing with a thief. They stole some of my work as well as one of my friend's art and started to harass and threaten her through notes. I've been running damage control and retaliation on this coward for the past almost two weeks in between doing homework for college. I've also started a new story and it's doing pretty well (ten reviews in one chapter, holy crap! o.o), as well as a few oneshots. This story is not going to be left behind, I promise. It's just so massive that updates might take a while. Sorry. C:_

_And, now I present you with a deleted scene inspired by Buh-The-Snowleopard. She thought that Sonic was hiding in the bushes in the Shadow section, so I had to write it. XD (She also loved Shadow's magical pen-from-nowhere and told me not to edit it out, so that's why… Yeah. Just read it.) Enjoy~_

Shadow's mind ticked over possible ways to get the gem to the Mystic Ruins. It wasn't that far away – just through Station Square and over the canal… Suddenly, his eyes widened and he jerked to the right, ignoring Eggman for a few seconds. A pair of bright green eyes stared at him from the bushes, and his own pair narrowed as he tried to place them.

Suddenly, a blue form catapulted itself out of the bushes, and tackled the dark hedgehog to the ground. "_Shadow_!" Sonic's deep voice yelled, laughter hidden in its depths. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Shadow went stiff, his backbone practically creaking at the stress and he tried to struggle out Sonic's grip. However, the blue hedgehog was stronger than he looked, and held on with a steadfast determination. "Sonic… _Let go_."

"No, Shadow, no! I've been following you for Chaos knows how long! And I want a hug!" The blue hedgehog snuggled deeper into their embrace, burying his face in Shadow's chest fur. "Didn't you miss me, Shads?"

"No," Shadow responded in a tone flat enough to level mountains.

"Aww, but, I _missed you…_" Sonic whined.

Above them, Dr. Eggman stared at the scene with a flabbergasted expression, but did nothing to attack. Perhaps Shadow would kill Sonic for him…

"Get _off_ me, Faker."

"No." Sonic replied firmly, closing his eyes. "I'm not letting you go ever again."

"But… Eggman… He-" the artificial creation was cut off.

"- won't hurt you again, Shadsy. Not if I have anything to say about it. Now, why don't you come back to the Workshop with me? Lil' me misses you."

"Look, this is your last warning, Sonic. Let me go, or else."

The hedgehog looked up at him with huge, shining green eyes. "Or else what?"

Shadow didn't reply vocally. Instead, he simply shoved his hand into his quills and pulled his trusty pen from nowhere. He then shoved it into Sonic's arm, like he was trying to stab the hedgehog.

Sonic immediately jumped away before falling to the ground in some sort of flailing tantrum, as if the pen was poisonous.

The dark hedgehog rose to his feet and dusted his hands off before looking up at the doctor. "Shall we finish before the idiot brigade here realizes that there's nothing wrong with him?"

The human shook himself out of his shocked state and he nodded once. "Yes, let's."

_End deleted scene._

_._

_._

_._

_(This is usually where I tell you that reviews are cherished, but because my birthday's on the eleventh, I've decided to change it up.)_

_Reviews are treated as birthday presents and all reviewers are welcome to a piece of birthday cake. _


	39. Are We All Insane? Or is it Just Me?

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"Are we all insane? Or is it just me?"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong> The beauty of these things being technically unconnected is that I can say "They rescued Shadow" and you have no choice but to believe me! Ha_ha_! (P.S. After five years of writing fanfictions I'm finally getting a hang of this 'voice' thing.)

Well, it's been a while, huh guys? Sorry about that. November and December were very busy months for me. Let's see, I had to bust my butt to keep my grades up in the A range, I rewrote the first chapter of this story, I tried to do NaNoWriMo (and failed), and I wrote over 13,000 words for the next chapter of Foray. All of that mixed in with multiple choir concerts, Christmas festivities, Thanksgiving, a trip to Kentucky and familial obligations kept me extremely preoccupied. But, I'm back, and there's a fire going. We've officially reached the crisis point. I'm sure you're all gonna want to kill me at the end of this.

P.S. I really hate overdoing the line break like I did in this chapter, but I had to sacrifice my inner raeg monster and do it. Chapter would've never been finished otherwise. Also, as is standard with my fics lately, this is unedited because it's three in the morning and I'm exhausted. I promise for the twenty thousandth time to edit it before the weekend is up.

Enjoy~

* * *

><p>"Remind me again why we agreed to come up here," Sonic remarked as he helped Knuckles move a large sheet of metal into place. As soon as they set it down, Tails flew in with a blow torch and quickly welded it into the correct position.<p>

"Because." came Knuckles' simple answer as he dusted his hands together. He offered no more and turned to watch Silver levitate the next sheet into its spot and Tails' repeat performance with the torch.

"Not so good with the social skills, huh Knux?" the ten year old asked, smirk tight across his face.

Knuckles' eyebrow twitched a bit at the nickname, but he chose not to reply to his patronizing rival. Instead, he simply pivoted away, stalking across the grass to the pile of mechanical parts and doohickeys. He chose the largest piece and hefted it, ignoring Sonic's excellent impersonation of his shadow, before carrying it back to the slowly rising Time Machine Thing. Knuckles wasn't really sure on the specifics; just that it was colossal and mechanical and technical and complicated and it would get him home and away from Sonic's smug face.

Speaking of Sonic's smug face, Knuckles swung the large metal beam as he placed it on the ground, half-hoping that he would hit the blue one, but, of course, the hero easily dodged. The echidna fought to keep the scowl off his face. "Would you help?!" he demanded as he spun around. Sonic, to his credit, actually tried to hide the face he had been making at the red one's back, but he wasn't quick enough. "Stop goofing off, you blue jerk."

"Chillax a bit Knu—"

"Call me that nickname again and I'm going to hit you."

"—_ckles_. I _am_ helping."

The look the eleven year old sent the azure one could have leveled mountains.

"I'm supervising. Someone has to delegate."

"Well, why don't I delegate my foot up your a—!"

"Hold that thought Knux," the hedgehog interrupted. "Ow! Hey!" He reached up and rubbed his arm, sending his friend an acidic glare. "Would you chill? I hear something."

Half expecting Sonic to be making it up, the echidna paused in his hedgehog-thrashing to listen. His ears pricked a bit at the natural sounds of the Island, but, past that, there was nothing.

"I don't hear anything, hedgehog."

"Nope, that's definitely the Master Emerald. I'll be right back." And with that, Sonic blasted into the underbrush, leaving only a blue afterimage behind.

Sighing at his own gullibility, Knuckles shook his head before turning back to the machine and the four year old fox kit still buzzing around it. The sooner they got this thing finished, the sooner he could get away from that blue freak.

Besides, if the Master Emerald was calling for help, it wouldn't be _audible,_ that was for sure.

o0o

When Angel Island tipped, Knuckles had no one to blame but himself.

Though he decided to _delegate_ some of the blame to Sonic, just for propriety's sake.

The landmass took a dip toward the south side, sending everyone and everything not bolted or rooted into the ground slipping down the sudden slope. Luckily, Tails had been in the air and he managed to grab Knuckles' hand and drag him into a tree and onto one of the branches before falling nearly on top of the echidna. Silver had done is magical blue glowy trick and levitated Blaze and himself to the limb above them.

"What's going on?!" Tails yelled as if there had been an explosion and everyone present was deaf.

"The Island is tilting, what do you _think's_ going on?!" Knuckles bellowed back in kind, causing the child's ears to fall flat.

"Why—?"

"_I don't know, kid,_" Knuckles replied semi-frantically. "It doesn't _tilt_. It either falls or floats. There _is_ no in between."

"But—!"

"_Ssh!_ Do you hear that?"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth did a giant, concussive _boom_ come from the middle of the Island. It was followed by a series of small pops, each loud enough to deafen anyone near enough to them, and then a smaller boom followed. Seconds later, a burst of blue, nothing more than the wind, skidded toward them. Sonic barely managed to stop in time, digging his heels in and sending up a spray of dirt and foliage.

"Robots – attacked – Master – Emerald," the hedgehog heaved out, grabbing onto the tree to keep himself from falling back the way he had come.

"What?! Did you stop them?!"

"No, I invited them over for tea – _of course I stopped them!_" Sonic wrapped his arms around the tree and shimmied his way up to them a he spoke. "They took off with two of the Emeralds though."

Knuckles' eyes bugged out. "_Two_?! Do you know what Robotnik can do with _two_ Emeralds? Especially with that new machine of his!"

Sonic yanked himself onto the branch next to Tails with the fox's help. "Yeah, well, it was either that or let them get the Master Emerald."

Knuckles was struck silent for approximately two seconds before his mind kicked back on. "_Why is the Island tilting?_" he demanded, reaching around the four year old to grab Sonic's shoulder. The hedgehog scooted away toward the end of the limb.

"I don't know!" the speedster cried, throwing his hands up for protection from the red one's rage.

"Were the Emeralds in their places on the altar when they were taken?"

"Yes!" Sonic yelled like his life depended on it. "They were pulsing and glowing and looked a little bigger when the 'bots showed up. I tried to fight them off but there were too many and they went straight for the Master Emerald. I had to make a decision."

Knuckles groaned, hitting himself on the forehead. "The Emeralds and the Master were feeding off of each other. The bond was broken before they could change into Super Emeralds, so they look half of the Master's Energy. That's why we're tilting. The Master Emerald can only hold up half of the Island."

"What—that's a stupid glitch!" Sonic retorted, pointing at Knuckles like the whole idea had been his. "Fix it!"

"Do I look like a Chaos Seer, Sonic?! I can't just go and siphon Energy back _into_ the Master Emerald!"

"So what do we do?" Silver asked from above them. Knuckles jerked to look up at him, dodging his hanging boots, before cutting his eyes back to Sonic.

"We hold on and wait for the Island to land."

"That's it?!" the blue hedgehog demanded, moving back up the branch so he wouldn't fall. "There must be something you can do."

"The only thing I can do is make sure we don't land on a city. I'll need some bearings. You better start praying to Chaos that there's not a storm under us."

His tone had taken a deadly drop and Sonic grimaced. "I'll go kneel. C'mon Tails."

"But, I need to finish the machine…"

"We need to make sure none of the supplies have fallen off the Island." Blaze's voice filtered from above them and Knuckles nodded once in her direction. She stood on the limb and nimbly jumped to the next tree. Quickly, she traversed the tilting landscape, leaping from branch to branch.

Everyone present looked at Silver expectantly and he cleared his throat nervously. "I'll go help her." He teleported off in a flash of blue.

Tails swung his legs before pushing himself off of the limb. He plummeted for a few seconds before his namesakes kicked in enough to slow his descent and he landed with barely a sound. "Call if you need me, Sonic," he yelled up at the blue and red shapes before trudging up the slope, forcing himself against gravity.

"Well, let's get this over with." The hedgehog easily jumped to the ground, flipping once in the air for flair. Knuckles rolled his eyes and stood so he could glide to the ground. "We have an Island to land."

o0o

The clouds they descended through made Sonic extremely nervous. They were livid, dark, and fat – all obvious signs of thunderheads. All Knuckles had to do was send him a loaded look and his fears were confirmed. Sonic bit his lip.

"You didn't pray hard enough, hedgehog."

"Chaos doesn't like me, Knuckles. I thought your older self taught you that."

Knuckles grunted in response, noncommittal, and placed his hands on the Master Emerald, around Chip's small form. The small god had been laying on his stomach on the Master Emerald since he had arrived on the Island, and he seemed deep in thought – most likely talking to Tikal. The gem thrummed and let out a pulse of Energy at Knuckles' probe, sending a shiver through Chip's body. Ignoring Sonic's gasp, the echidna sent a command to the Emerald, showing it which way to go. The Island gently righted itself as best as it could and the bottom slowly kissed the clouds as they grew closer to the ground.

Sonic zipped over to the remaining five Emeralds, staring straight into their depths. His nose nearly touching the green one, his eyes were wide and a dark stormy jade, only a few shades brighter than his natural black. The Emeralds were seething, sparking in dull flashes of color, angry at their half-transformation. They were at an in-between place, stuck halfway between their normal sizes and that of the Super Emeralds. Their Energy was uneasy, unbalanced, and there was too much for their small forms. They hummed unhappily, creating chords of dissonance as their natural pitches clashed against each other.

"The Emeralds aren't that happy, Knux." Sonic observed, glancing back at the echidna. "Are you sure we're okay being this close to them?"

"They're in discord. Halfway isn't natural, and they aren't meant to be like this. But, because they're so close to the Master Emerald, they're stable." He tilted his head to the right a bit and Sonic got the uncanny impression that the Master Emerald had just spoken to him. "We're about to descend through the cloud line. Get ready for a storm."

o0o

The clouds didn't disappoint. Seconds after the Island broke through the tumult of gray, the rain started. Heavy and fat, the drops pelted everyone on the Island with gusto, soaking every single one of them through in seconds. Fur was plastered to bone, gloves were weighed down, and shoes were coated with mud.

Tails squinted into the downpour, wishing for the fourth time that he had his goggles, and took a labored step toward the Temporal Transporter, heaving a tarp behind him. His namesakes were incredibly heavy, dragging through the mud, and the tarpaulin had a miniature lake forming on it where it pooled up enough to retain water. He needed to cover the machine until the rain passed, or else risk the whole thing.

Suddenly, the tarp floated off of the ground, and he yelped as it was tugged out of his grasp. The four year old turned in time to see Silver march past, his hands extended toward the sheeting. There was a barely discernible blue aura around the tarp and the metallic hedgehog easily guided it toward its intended destination.

"Where you want it?" Silver called over the gale, his ears flat against his skull as he fought to keep the wind from jerking the tarp from his hold.

"Drape it over the top! I can crawl up and tie it!"

"No need!" Silver heaved his hands forward and the canvas flew toward the machine, landing exactly where Tails had indicated. Seconds later, the zip ties the fox had intended to use rocketed out of their boxes and secured themselves around the tarp. The machine was covered in seconds.

"Wow…" The fox breathed, looking up at Silver with awe.

"C'mon," the time traveler scooped the tiny fox into his arms, "we need to take cover until this passes. Blaze found a cave."

o0o

When they arrived, they found Blaze huddled around a small fire – probably of her own making – warming her hands. She glanced up when they rushed in, and Tails could have sworn that she hissed at their dripping bodies. Silver placed the fox on the ground and dropped to sit on his haunches in front of the flame.

"Did you get everything secured?" the cat asked as she scooted away from her wet friends.

"Yup." Tails sat as close as he dared to the crackling fire. Outside, the wind howled and he shivered before casting a look toward the cave opening. "Guess Sonic didn't pray hard enough."

"Chaos doesn't like him," Silver asserted. "Or, at least, that's what my history books always said."

The four year old stared at him blankly for a few seconds, his quick brain spinning around that statement a few times before eventually hitting on something that needed addressing. "You know so much about our lives… Do you know how we're gonna _die_?"

Silver's eyes widened and Blaze glared at him before turning to the fox. "He can't answer that, Tails. Plus, I don't think you'd like to know how and when you go, would you?"

"Well, no but..." He trailed off, his ears swiveling around. There was a barely perceivable hum, hardly loud enough to sound above the drumming of the rain, coming from deeper into the cave. Tails rose to his feet and padded forward, his ears turned away from the sound and flat on his head. His eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom, his pupils dilating to be so huge he could pick up the minuscule cracks in the floor.

Suddenly, light flared, sending him toppling backwards in a scramble to cover his eyes. He squeaked and Silver and Blaze were at his sides in seconds.

"Woah," Silver breathed, shading eyes with his hand. "Is that what I think it is?"

Tails regained his feet and squinted into the brightness. "Yup, that's a Warp Ring."

"I've never seen one in real life…" Silver scooted forward, a hand extended. "Only in pictures in my school books…"

"Don't touch it!" Tails yelled, darting toward the hedgehog, but it was too late. His hand brushed the Ring, and he disappeared in a flash of sparkles. "Great."*

"Where'd he go?" Blaze's voice fought against a rising edge of panic.

"Hopefully, a Special Zone…" Tails sighed. "We better go after him."

Then, without another word, the four year old thrust his hand through the large gold ring.

His world was overcome with flashing lights, colors so bright they stabbed straight through his closed eyelids and into his retinas. A heartbeat later, it was over, and he blinked back into existence. The fox stumbled out of the Warp Ring, landing almost on top of Silver, and forced his eyes open. He gasped seconds later.

They were in a long, gray metal hall. The walls were dark steel, soulless and unfeeling, and every sound was echoed back twice as loud. There were red lights flashing, flinging bright crimson splatters of color around in circles. The red lit up the space, illuminating shadowy figures slowly making their way toward the huddled pair. Tails' ears popped and an alarm burst to life. He winced, his ears snapped down, and he resisted the urge to grind his teeth.

Then, an explosion. A starburst of orange light, ballooning outward with the smoke. Metal rained down onto the floor. Another blast, this one closer than the first. The siren choked and died, wailing down into a lower register before cutting off completely.

A strong hand grabbed Tails' arm and hauled him upward. It slammed his back into the wall hard enough to knock the air from his lungs and he choked, falling forward to protect his midsection.

"What are you doing here?!" a strong male voice demanded. There was another detonation behind him, and the world illuminated the dark shape in front of the fox kit. It was spiky, the curves of its quills swooping downward toward the ground. A pair of green eyes glared at him. The child relaxed a bit.

"I don't know, Sonic!" He held his hands up in what he hoped was a placating gesture. "There was a Warp Ring an—!"

Another explosion, this one closer than before. Sonic thumped his hands open-palmed onto the wall on either side of the wall beside the fox's ears, shielding him with his body. "Guys!" He glanced over his shoulder. "That was a little too close for comfort!"

"Sorry Sonic!" Tails heard the faint voice of his older self and straightened up. He could just see the golden form of the older fox swooping down to attack a robot, Knuckles close behind to deal the final blow. The resulting shock wave left the four year old's ears ringing.

"Hey, T2!" Sonic snapped his fingers in front of the kit's face, pulling his eyes back. "Pay attention! There was a Warp Ring?"

"Yeah, Silver touched it and me and Blaze followed him."

"Where?" Sonic's voice was forceful with just a tinge of desperation. He glanced over his shoulder again, making sure his friends were okay.

"A cave on Angel Island!" Tails' tone mirrored Sonic's and he squirmed out from under the hedgehog's arms when he wasn't looking.

A large gloved hand grabbed his arm again and pulled him back. "Where do you think you're going?!" the hedgehog demanded, his grip just a touch too tight. "We're in the middle of Eggman's base! There's robots everywhere! You can't go into this!" He whipped around, glaring into the fray and yanking the kit with him, cutting off his reply. Green eyes caught sight of a diving yellow fox and he waved his hands at his little brother once he had successfully dealt with a robot. "Tails! Come watch your younger self, would you?! I need to help Knuckles!"

"I don't need your help, hedgehog!"

Ignoring Knuckles' indignant yell and the loud explosion of robot parts that followed Sonic's declaration, the thirteen year old flew in to take up Sonic's post. He sent his smaller persona a small grimace as he guided him back toward the wall. Sonic watched them go before launched himself back into the fight. Seconds later, Silver and Blaze joined from seemingly nowhere.

The tiny fox slid down the wall sulkily, his arms crossed and his brow wrinkled. His elder persona placed himself in front of him, standing so he was blocking the smaller form with his body.

"Did you find Shadow?" the child asked, his tone trying and failing to be scathing. Instead, he sounded curious and hopeful.

"Yeah, Sonic got him out and he took off in the other direction. Yelled something about splitting up so we wouldn't all get caught. We have no idea where he is now." He paused to give the two-tail sitting on the ground the chance to answer, and when he only grunted, the older fox glanced back at him before changing the subject. "How'd you get here?"

A heavy sigh. "Warp Ring. Silver touched it and it transported us here." There was a beat of silence before the child spoke again. "Where _is_ here?"

"Outside of Shamar. Eggman's been here since we invaded his base in Westopolis. Where'd the Ring spit you out?"

"Over there." A small finger pointed to a spot about three yards from them. "Sonic ambushed me right after I landed, so I'm not sure exactly where."

"That's okay, T2. I have an idea." He knelt down so he was at eye level with the fox. "Do you have everything that I gave you in this tool belt?"

Tails had completely forgotten that he had the belt on; it was natural for it to be there, and he looked down at it, trying to remember if he had left anything behind. "I think so."

"The Chaos tracer?"

Small dark eyes widened in realization and he quickly dug around in the belt's many pockets before offering the yellow device to his older self. With deft fingers, the elder fox flipped it on and it immediately let out a high pitched set of beeps. A quick sweep of the gadget and it the bleeps sped up as it passed the hedgehog fighting robots a few meters away. Tails grimaced and taped the screen a few times. The beeps slowed. "Forgot to calibrate it for non-organics," he explained before turning in the direction the other fox had pointed it. The pings picked up. "C'mon. And stay close."

The little fox kept a hand securely around one of the golden namesakes of the older mobian as they scurried to the spot. There weren't as many robots as before, but the ones that were around were more deadly than the everyday Buzz Bomber or Egg Pawns. Egg Fighters equipped with rocket launchers and guns were being picked off one at a time by the four fighting mobians, but even they could not stop the tide slowly coming into the room. Soon enough, they would be overrun.

"Sensor says this is the spot with the most Energy, T2." The elder mobian stopped suddenly and Tails nearly smashed into his back. He skipped backwards in an attempt to keep his balance and was nearly beheaded by a flying piece of robot chassis. Then, the thirteen year old was at his side, pushing his head down and shielding his body as he urged him back. "Stay low," he hissed, glancing up to make sure the way was clear. "I need the Chaos Drive in the belt." He paused as the small child handed it to him. "I'm going to connect this to the sensor and hopefully it'll stimulate the Ring back into the visible plane. If it shows up, you go through it."

"But—"

"No buts, T2. I'll get the rest of them and we'll follow you, okay?"

Tiny Tails looked up at Mechanic with wide eyes for a few seconds before nodding once. "All right."

o0o

The storm had passed.

The whole Island was shining, glimmering from the rainfall. The smell was indescribable, the twang of water mixed with the heaviness of flowers and mud. It was like everything had been reset, the whole landmass reverting back to its most basic beginnings. The Chaos Energy felt ancient, refreshed in its oldness, and it hummed at a weak infrasonic, welcoming its treasured son home.

Sonic's ears pricked as he emerged from the cave, swiveling so they were facing forward. Next to him, his little brother shivered, wrapping his arms around his body. The hedgehog shared a look with him before tossing his tan limb over Tails' shoulders, offering a silent reassurance. The Island was simmering with a leftover humidity from the rain, so Tails' shakes weren't a byproduct of the temperature. The fox had become more perceptive to changes in the Chaos Energy levels – he felt the shift just as much as Sonic.

There was something wrong. The buzz of Chaos was low, almost absent, and it was the wrong color. It tasted sour in Sonic's mouth, felt wrong as it threaded through his quills, was absent from his bloodstream and his senses. Usually when he stepped onto Angel Island, the Energy sang to him, painted the landscape with golds and greens, and wrapped around him. But now, it hovered anxiously, writhing around them.

"We're on the surface!" Knuckles shoved past Sonic, rocketing forward so he was in front of the four year old leading them toward the Master Emerald altar. "The Energy's _angry_! What's going on, kid?!" His voice was rough and desperate and he reached as if to shake the child's shoulder. But, he caught himself inches from the golden fur. In his state, a shake from him would most likely break the kit's arm.

"Robots attacked and took two of the Emeralds while they were in-transition." A new voice called calmly from the bushes and its owner emerged seconds later, pausing with his red arms crossed and his feet planted in the ground, like he expected to be attacked. "The other five are stuck between Super and Chaos and the Master Emerald is only at half power. I had to land the Island."

The matching red mobian seemed to wilt where he stood, his whole body slumping. "The Master's safe." This was breathed out of relief and he ran a hand down his face. "How long?"

The dark eyes of young Knuckles swiveled upward in thought. "About two hours ago."

"Any damage?"

"None so far, though Warp Rings have been appearing without warning."

The older echidna laughed dryly. "Yeah, we noticed."

There was a pause as the smaller crimson being stared at the group, noticing for the first time the way Sonic and Tails were at high alert and Blaze and Silver's grim faces. He turned on his heel. "C'mon. We need to regroup."

o0o

Chip was awake when the group of seven tromped their way up the steps to the altar. He was sitting in Mini-Sonic's lap, the hedgehog perched on top of the Master Emerald with his legs crossed and head bowed as Chip spoke to him. The speedster glanced up when they approached but didn't react past that, going back to his conversation with Light Gaia.

The three elder incarnations were immediately drawn to the five seething Chaos Emeralds. They were bulbous, double the size of Chaos Emeralds yet half the size of Super Emeralds, and thrashing, their Energies whirling around in their hearts. Sonic was standing across from the cyan one, his face grim as he took it in its state, while Knuckles looked faint as he inspected the Master Emerald. It wasn't being as temperamental as the smaller Emeralds, instead more subdued and dead, letting off a pulse every half a minute. It was as if the Emeralds had been supercharged with too much of the Master Emerald's energy, leaving the large green gem weak and decrepit.

Tails was standing with his younger self, gazing deep into the purple Emerald. Silently, he accepted the Chaos Scanner the smaller fox offered him without prompting, as if they were on the same wavelength. Blue eyes stared at the readout as he ran it over the Emerald, and a golden brow furrowed. His gaze rose to look at the violet stone again and he tapped it once with an inquisitive finger.

"I think I can use these," he mumbled, lightly striking it again. It sparked brightly, happy to have an excuse to get rid of its excess Energy. "Their power is doubled when compared to the regular Emeralds, so with five, we actually have the power of ten Chaos Emeralds. The only problem is how unstable they are. I don't know if they'll take to the Temporal Transporter… They're in—"

"Discord." Little Sonic picked his head up, staring straight ahead, toward the slowly sinking sun. "They're in discord – Discord Emeralds."

Everyone present, including Chip, stared at him, their faces ranging from confusion to understanding to bewilderment. He shrugged at their expressions. "Credit where it's due: Knuckles said it first."

Eight pairs of eyes swiveled to look at the younger echidna. "Yeah, I said it. I also said that the Master's keeping them stable. They should be okay for that machine if they stay close to it."

"Well," the elder hedgehog stepped forward, rubbing his hands together – in Leader mode, "let's get going then. No time like the present!"

o0o

The Temporal Transporter was completed in the space of two and a half hours. With the combined efforts of everyone, the process was sped up considerably. Two Knuckleses lent their strength, two Sonics their speed, two Tailses their minds, and one Blaze and Silver added just enough extra muscle/psychokinesis to enable them to finish before the sun disappeared completely.

Standing at nine feet tall, the machine was nothing more than a large, mechanical circle on a pedestal. There was a control panel separated from the machine, so the operator could look at it, but, beyond that, it wasn't much. The five Discord Emeralds were attached to the machine via modified fiber optic cable and the gems happily spat and hissed, siphoning their power down the cord.

"Calibration commencing," the bigger of the two foxes muttered as he pressed a few buttons on the controls, "T-minus three minutes until start-up."

A large pair of dark eyes peeped over the edge of the controls and their owner reached up to touch the countdown, his fingers shaking almost imperceptibly. "I guess this is it…" His voice was small, impossibly young, and the elder fox looked down at him with sad blue eyes, resigned. "This is the end."

He fell to his knees, wrapping his tinier persona in a tight hug. The child quaked in his arms, a small gasp escaping him as he tried and failed to hold back his tears. "There's never an end," Tails mumbled, reaching up to cup the back of T2's small head. "You're me, remember? We'll always be together, in the adventures, in the biplanes, in the _memories_." He leaned back so he was looking into the dark eyes of his younger self. "Soon enough, you'll be here, and you'll be saying this. You're not really leaving, just growing, ya'know?"

Tiny Tails choked on his tears as he tried to hold them back, and he nodded with a rough jerk of his neck. Then, he fell forward again, wrapping his arms around the other's neck. "I'll still miss you."

"I'll miss you too…"

Soon enough, the controls pinged and the foxes had to part. They glanced up in time to see Sonic rub the younger hedgehog on the head and Knuckles cuff the smaller version of himself on the head. Little Sonic moved to stand next to his little brother and he nodded once at the taller fox. The whole clearing was resigned and the air felt heavier as Tails stood and looked down at the controls. There was a switch under a plastic hood blinking brightly. After sharing one last look with the four year old still at his side, he flipped up the cover and flicked the toggle.

The machine exploded to life in a blast of pure energy. It bowled tiny Tails over causing Sonic to scramble to catch him, while everyone else hooded their eyes against the blast.

Moments later, the air cleared and all present looked up at the Temporal Transporter with differing expressions of shock and awe. The larger of the two foxes pressed a few buttons and a spear of purple of energy shot into the writing mass of white power in the middle of the mirror-like circle of metal. The two colors swirled around each other for a couple seconds before the amethyst seemed to win the war. It spread like a disease, infecting the rest of the energy, and soon enough the whole portal was a picture perfect imitation of a Time Hole.

The wind was picking up again, licking eagerly at every person present, though it seemed more concentrated around the past incarnations. The thirteen year old nodded once at his big brother and then at the smaller blue hedgehog, a clear sign that everything was ready.

Little Sonic grabbed his Tails' hand, guiding him toward the portal. Their matching Knuckles incarnation met them halfway and the three of them stopped to stare up at the machine. It was spitting out angry energy, obviously only stable through the complicated mechanics holding it together. There was no telling if it would work, and they were about to step through it with only the hope that it would send them home.

"Are we all insane?!" Mini-Sonic demanded, yelling over the howling wind. "Or is it just me?!"

Knuckles sent him a look of grim agreement but chose not to speak. Instead, he took a few determined steps forward. Soon enough, he was inches from the portal, and he reached out a gloved fist to touch it.

The machine fizzled out.

The three younger manifestations whirled around as one, immediately homing in on the control panel and the teenaged fox running it. He had his hands poised over the buttons, clearly the reason why the portal had disappeared. His face was grim and he was rigged, his eyes darting back and forth between the controls and the twenty year old standing feet away, bristled and ready for a fight.

Behind the fox, gleefully holding a laser gun to the back of his golden head, stood Dr. Eggman. His face was the perfect mixture of extreme joy and triumph, and his smirk grew even larger when he noticed the three past versions of the heroes staring at him in wide-eyed shock.

"Ah ah," he tutted, waving a finger back and forth like he was admonishing a naughty child. "You can't go back just yet. Not when you have so much more to do here!"

o0o

The next few minutes passed in a whirl of confusion. Eggman ordered they all stand in a row next to his hostage and he quickly traded places with an Egg Fighter, who easily pointed its own laser gun at Tails. The human wasted no time parading in front of them like an overstuffed chicken, strutting back and forth in a warped version of pacing.

"I can't believe he snuck up on us…" Sonic mumbled out of the side of his mouth to Tails.

The fox grimaced back before grumbling in reply, "I'm getting really tired of being a hostage all the time."

"It's amazing how preoccupied you can be with goodbyes, hedgehog. It was child's play for me to walk up behind you." He smirked at Sonic and the hero glared back, his green eyes practically sparking with anger. "Now, fox!" His voice took on a pointed edge and he stabbed a finger in the elder kit's direction. "I suppose you have this portal set to the day I grabbed those doubles of yours from the past. Change it to Sonic's birthday."

"What?! Why?!" This came from Mini-Sonic and Eggman whipped around to glare at him.

"I have to close that Time Hole that appears to take you home! Did you believe it was fate that you were stuck here in the future?"

"Wait, _you_ closed that Hole?!" both echidnas demanded, their tones properly shocked. "How?!"

"This lovely machine that you so helpfully built!" He waved his hand toward the Temporal Transporter, his whole form shaking with mirth. "I let you have the plans when I evacuated my base those many months ago, remember Sonic? You escaped after playing around in the alternate dimensions and the machine was just sitting there, ripe for the taking! Do you really think I would just allow you to take off with my tech?! Hohohoho! You fools!"

"But… _why?_" This came from Tiny Tails. "It's just a giant loop! You trap us in the future and then what?!"

"Ah, fox, so smart, even in your young age. You see, I have a plan – a plan to hold this whole _planet_ for ransom! As we speak, my own younger counterpart, Dr. Robotnik, is preparing a robot strike on Central City, the capital of the United Federation! I will cripple G.U.N. in one blow and there will be no one to stop me!"

"Yawn." Sonic looked bored and he glanced at Tails again. The fox was too busy staring down the machine, his brow furrowed. "All I hear is your jaw flapping, Eggman. What makes you think G.U.N. won't see Robotnik coming?"

"Oh Sonic, you're so hard to impress. I guess that's my fault. I've not done anything extravagant enough to hold your interest. Pity." He paused, staring down at the gun still in his hand. "And, as to your question, I'm afraid that G.U.N. will be too busy worrying about something much bigger than a few robots."

"What are you tal—?!"

"I must thank you, hedgehog, for falling right into place. One word that one of your friends is in danger and you take off to save him, leaving the Chaos Emeralds wide open for the taking. Unfortunately, I didn't account for the younger you, so I only got two of those warped Emera—"

"Discord Emeralds," Little Sonic interrupted, his tone flat.

"Discord Emeralds? Hm, what a suitable name. As I was saying, I only got two of them, but that's more than enough." He paused once more, this time obviously for dramatics. "Did you know that Gaia is susceptible to unstable Chaos Energy? Gaia is split in two perfectly so it is in absolute balance, while Chaos is three sided – positive, negative, neutral. If the balance between the three is off even a little bit, like, say, how it is in those Discord Emeralds, it's like the bullet in Gaia's armor. Use the opposite force and you can destroy any force of Gaia, no matter how big."

Sonic felt his heart drop into his stomach at the doctor's words and he glanced to the left to see his friends' reactions. The past versions looked overly confused, Knuckles looked pissed, and Blaze and Silver looked enraged, as if they knew exactly what was going to happen and couldn't stop it. And, as much as it pained him to think it, they probably did. Their expressions weren't comforting.

He looked to the right. Tails looked properly subdued, the perfect reaction from someone with a gun to their head, but his left hand was resting on the console, his index finger tapping randomly. Sonic felt his eyes widen and he forced them back to normal. Morse code. Like that time in the Westopolis base. Well, if it worked the first time…

"Because you had them here on Angel Island, the Emeralds were filled with positive energy, which I easily siphoned out using my new Egg-Drainer." Heedless of Sonic and Tails' silent conversation, Eggman continued in his rant, fulfilling every villain stereotype in existence. "I'm sure you heard of it from Shadow. He was just the beginning, the trial run. With it, I now have a well of unstable positive energy. In fact, I won't be needing _these_ anymore." He dug a hand into the pocket on his jacket and produced two properly sized Chaos Emeralds. They were dead, no color left, well and truly drained. The human held them up like a trophy and the waning sunlight refracted through them, rainbowing onto the ground.

"Do you know what keeps time moving forward?" He waited a beat for an answer, despite the fact that it was obviously a rhetorical question. "The spin of the planet. And do you know what fuels that?" Another beat. "The struggle between Light and Dark Gaia in the core. The fight between those two opposite energies, even when they're asleep or free on the surface, keeps the core spinning, which keeps the whole world rotating. Do you know what will happen if I extinguish one of those forces?"

He stopped in his pacing, finally turning to look at the eight of them fully. The rotund man's face was impossibly giddy, his smile stretching to encompass the whole width of his face. "No answer? Well, let's find out!"

Dropping the depleted Emeralds and placing both hands on his laser gun, the evil doctor pivoted all the way around, exhibiting more dexterity than a man his size should posses, and he took aim at the time machine. The gems hit the ground seconds later, landing with barely a sound.

That was the signal.

Sonic leapt up and kicked his leg out, clipping the robot standing behind Tails with his heel. It flopped backwards, letting off a shot that barely grazed the fox's ear.

Tails fell forward onto the controls, scrambling for the shut off switch. His fingers scrabbled on the hood and he pried it open with enough force to rip it free. The switch was flipped seconds later.

It was too late. Eggman let off a single shot. A bright burst of gold streaked out of the gun, obliterating the plastic casing and completely destroying the firearm. It rocketed through the portal one millisecond before the machine fizzled and died.

Then, Chip gasped. "_DARK GAIA_!" The yell ripped its way from his throat, unnatural and deep. The scream plowed into everyone, sailing straight into their minds and rattling around in their heads before burrowing downwards, dragging their hearts and lungs and stomachs and everything else all the way to their shoes. Tails choked, his sixth sense clanging at him. Sonic fell to his knees, his whole body giving out as all of the Chaos Energy in the area disappeared, vanishing as if it never existed. Knuckles let out a cry as he too was forced to his knees.

At the altar, the Chaos Emeralds went dark.

The Master Emerald exploded into an uncountable number of pieces.

"Thanks to the natural Chaos flow, my weapon has found its target! Dark Gaia is no more! Hohohoho!"

And then, time stopped.

* * *

><p><em>To be continued…<em>

_Reviews are cherished. _


	40. I Brake for No One!

_The Genesis of a Generation_

"I brake for no one!"

* * *

><p><strong>Notes: <strong>Hello children! Guess who's back (we'll I never left but guess who finally got her ducks in a row)!

I had to do some super soul searching for this story, and what I came up with will probably disappoint some of you, while the rest of you will just be happy I finally updated. I'm super happy with what I decided to do; it only took me almost two years to figure it out!

I will admit, it's been fun. I had a blast coming up with Chaos Theory and watching the characters grow as individuals and planting little seeds that no one's noticed, but I really overestimated my writing ability (and attention span) with this one.

I know what you're all thinking. No, I am not giving up on this story. I said I would finish it, and I'm going to. A lot has changed since the last chapter, but I will NEVER give up this story.

You see, this story has two different plot arcs – a main and a secondary. Last chapter started the secondary arc, the one that's overly intricate and really unnecessary beyond the buildup I've been doing. It isn't working out because I planned too much, so... we ain't doing it no more. There! Simple. I really missed the nonsensical, non-directional way the earlier chapters went, when I wasn't working up to some big climax. The Dark Sonic arc was completely written on the spot and without plan, and look how well it went. I want my nonsense back. I want to go back into Generations and play around with some lesser known games (_Sonic Labyrinth_, anyone?). I want to put these characters into situations that I haven't seen yet. I want to get Classic Sonic to stop being so grouchy. I just want to be spontaneous and not have all the chapters consecutive. This is a oneshot series, dangit! Let's treat it like one.

That being said, what exactly is getting nixed? Last chapter – pretend it didn't happen. I would just delete it and replace it, but then my reviews would be off and it'd be a mess. Everything else in the story happened. Shadow still has a cat (**and he still has the yellow Emerald**), Modern Sonic still went Dark, Classic Sonic still turned into a Werehog, Chip is still around, Classic Tails still had insomnia, the time stream will still collapse at Sonic's 21st birthday, the main plot arc is still in place. The only differences are the meta of last chapter and time stopping **DOES NOT HAPPEN**. _Capiche_? Capiche.

The only plot hole I foresee happening is Chip, and I'll just let you know if the chapter takes place pre-Chip or when Chip is there. Okay? Okay.

As to this chapter: I had three different false starts, each on a totally different subject from the last, before I settled on this one. The cold weather recently put me in the mood for snow, so I'm writing snow – even though I have zero experience with snow, seeing as I live in southeast Texas. (Pre-Chip)

Now, onward!

* * *

><p>The first major snowfall of the year always left the Mystic Ruins deserted. With no scientists or tourists, the snow was left untouched besides a small path of footprints from the train station to the workshop, and, when the wind died off the cliff side, it left the whole zone in a perpetual hush that, combined with the cold, led to a tranquility that many didn't see that often.<p>

Sonic hated it.

The silence that hovered around the snow was deep enough to make his ears ring, and the cold only served to slow him down. His movements became sluggish, despite the thin air, and the cold sliced open his lungs and throat when he ran. He was used to the warm, temperate climates of Green Hill Zone, not eyeball freezing chill, and every year, he would mutter angrily and glare out the window when the snowfall came. Tails usually laughed at him before shoving him out the door in front of him with his coat, demanding a snowball fight. The resulting war allowed Sonic to get all of his aggression and anger out, as well as letting him exercise his relatively weak arm muscles.

This year was different though. With twenty years of life came a new perspective on things, and, this, coupled with the younger version of himself that ran around his house, ate his food, and said things he had once said, meant that he wasn't as hostile toward the cold as usual.

Didn't mean he liked it though.

With the cold came the undeniable urge to sleep, so Sonic usually spent most the winter curled up under his blankets. Tails had informed him a few years ago that this was because his ancestors hibernated during the winter, but Sonic wasn't sure if he believed that. Tails himself was more active during the winter, the cold awakening an often buried instinct to play and run, which only served to annoy Sonic more. The cold months of December, January, and February were usually when the fox got his most productive work done, and the hedgehog usually left him to in. He ran as much as usual, escaping to warmer climates for his workouts, but when he came home, he usually retreated to his room.

The day of the first snow found Sonic stumbling out of bed around noon. A glance out the window rewarded him with blinding white and a scowl fixed itself on his face, which accompanied him all the way down the stairs and into the kitchen. He tracked the well worn path to the fridge and grabbed whatever caffeinated drink he could get his hands on first. Popping the can open, he turned toward the den with the vague thought of _'couch_' stuck in his brain, but the sight a blob of gold at the window stopped him.

Tails was staring intently out at the snow, hands at his sides and namesakes still as the outside world. He was obviously content, and Sonic was struck by the image of his hyperactive friend standing so still. There was something magical about the way the sunlight streamed in through the window, surrounding the fox and highlighting his golden fur. His ears were turning black on the tips, a sign of vulpine puberty, Sonic realized as he looked at him from the back, and he was nearly taller than the hedgehog. He was growing up, and Sonic had very nearly missed it.

Tails sighed, obviously too lost in the beautiful scenery outside the workshop to notice Sonic standing only a few feet away, and the hedgehog grinned. Usually, Tails woke him at the crack of dawn at the first sign of snow, but he must have decided to let him sleep. He knew how cranky Sonic got when the temperature dropped, and with two blue hedgehogs in the house, he probably didn't want to push it. It was obvious Tails loved the sno—

A snowball smacked into the window, shattering Sonic's thoughts. Tails jerked back in time with Sonic, and he heard a laugh from outside. There was a whistle and another snowball sailed into the glass, shaking the pane. Tails' hands rose to rest on his hips, and Sonic was sure he was scowling.

A flash of blue and red sped past the window, and Sonic felt a grin slip onto his face. A blur of gold and green followed it, yelling something that was lost to the wind. The two vague blobs sped around the yard in front of the window, lobbing large balls of white at one another at impressive speeds. Eventually, they slowed down enough that Sonic could make out the familiar shapes of their younger selves, in the thick of a snowball fight. Little Sonic was clad in a red coat and scarf, bundled up to his chin; T2 was in a matching green jacket and scarf, though his clothing was open and loose, his fur providing more than enough warmth. Their cheeks were rosy with the chill and they were panting at the effort of running around in the thin air, but they were laughing and Sonic could see the joy in their expressions from where he was.

"Slow down!" he heard Tails' high pitched voice yell as the small hedgehog disappeared into nothing more than a blur.

"I brake for no one!" came the rebuttal, closer to the window than Tails had been, and a snowball flew through the air. It missed its mark by a few inches and tiny Tails scowled.

"No fair! You're faster than me!"

"All's fair!"

Tails opened his mouth to argue, but a snowball sailed from the left and hit him in the head. His mouth snapped shut and his eyes narrowed. "Fine," Sonic saw him say, voice far too quiet for him to catch through the window, "it's on!"

The elder Tails chuckled as his younger self took to the air, scarf rigged into a sling to hold ammunition. His laughter rose to full force as the tiny fox dropped a snow bomb on an unsuspecting ten-year-old and Sonic jerked up to shake his fist at him.

Twenty-year-old Sonic watched all of this silently, amusement fixed on his face. It was something to see his younger self so happy and carefree, especially with the worry that was obviously bothering him. The time stream was a strange thing, Sonic had decided a while ago, to let two of the same person exist at the same time... And, no matter how much he enjoyed seeing himself as he once was, he knew that being here was taxing on their small bodies. Sonic had never been one to agonize over anything, but being displaced from his time was clearly worrying the little him enough that he was losing sleep at night.

It was strange though, he couldn't help but think now, to watch Tails as he watched the younger versions of them as they romped and played as if there wasn't a care in the world. Sonic hadn't played in the snow that freely in a long time, and, realized with a jolt, he may not have always hated it as much as he thought he did. When he was young, snow was mystifying and different, something to enjoy. It wasn't until around his fifteenth birthday that he started disliking it; that was when it started making him sleepy, as if his body was demanding that he take a break, despite how much he lazed around during the rest of the year. He wondered if Tails had seen this, tried to change it, and eventually had given up – decided to let Sonic rest as he needed.

Sonic had to wonder just how many mornings Tails spent alone like this, staring out the window, wanting nothing more than to go outside and enjoy the snow. Too many, he decided as Tails laughed again when his younger self was hit with another snowball. He would have to change that.

He padded closer to his friend, drink left on the table as he passed. "It's strange," he began, making Tails jump. "We live next to the ocean, yet," he waved his hands at the white expanse, thinking of other Zones situated on the water, "snow."

Tails glanced at him, trying to gauge his expression. He shrugged. "Mobius is a strange place. The climates don't make much sense sometimes."

"True," Sonic observed, watching as T2 finally gave up on snowballs and tackled Little Blue into a thick patch of snow, wrestling him into submission. "Look at that, fighting dirty as always."

"I only fight dirty when you cheat," Tails shot back without missing a beat.

"I only cheat when you fight dirty."

"It's hopeless then." Tails grinned, eyes going wide as the light blue hedgehog managed to fight free of the four-year-old's hold. "You were stronger than me back then."

"Still am," Sonic corrected, coughing as if to cover the words up.

"Are not."

"Are too."

Tails turned away from the window to face Sonic head on, expression formidable. "Prove it."

"Fine," Sonic replied in a bored tone, "get your coat."

"_Fine._"

Tails squinted at him for a few more seconds before turning away to stalk up the stairs. Sonic watched him go before looking back out the window. The children had given up on their fight, no doubt calling it a draw like always, and were making sloppy snow angels, their breath puffing out quickly. They would get their energy back soon, and then they could have a _real_ snowball fight, hedgehogs versus foxes.

Tails came pounding down the stairs, bright blue coat already thrown over his shoulders. He tossed a bright green mass of fabric in Sonic's direction, which the hedgehog easily caught. The emerald jacket had been a gift for his sixteenth birthday, and four years of use and abuse had left it worn and patched, but it held many memories in its folds.

"Ready to lose?" Tails demanded as Sonic yanked the coat on.

"Are _you_?"

"Not on your life!" Tails darted out the door, yelling a call to arms to his younger self. The smaller fox's head poked up and a huge grin exploded across his face.

A light blue skull followed suit soon after, looking for its matching older counterpart. Never one to disappoint, Sonic grinned and swooped into the snow, enjoying the crunch of it under his feet. He plowed into the snow, scooping up a ball, and launched the first attack. It scored a direct hit on Tails' belly, and the thirteen-year-old let out an oof before lobbing a projectile of his own.

The battled that followed left each of them dead at least one hundred times over, but they fought until their last breath.

In the end, it was a draw, like always.

* * *

><p><em>I have two other stories going along with this one, so updates will be pretty uniform between the three. Unless I have a sudden burst of inspiration, then any of them are fair game. <em>

_If you're dying to know just what happened in the secondary arc and how time was stopped and everything, send me a PM and I'll lay it out for you. I don't plan on using that plot for anything, I don't think. If I do, I can always change it up, so it's no big deal._

_Thank you for being so patient and sticking with me for so long. Hope to see you soon. _

_Reviews are cherished. _


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